I Am Humbled By LEADERSHIP Award – MD, Development Bank of Nigeria, Tony Okpanachi

The managing director/chief executive officer of Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Tony Okpanachi, has said he is honoured by his nomination as Banker of the Year by LEADERSHIP Newspapers.

Speaking when he received a delegation from LEADERSHIP Group Limited on Thursday in Abuja, he commended the recognition and dedicated it to his team at the Development Bank of Nigeria.
He described LEADERSHIP Awards as prestigious and imbued with integrity. He said, “I have followed the LEADERSHIP Awards for some time. It is one of those very prestigious awards in terms of credibility, integrity and all that. So, I felt truly humbled. I must thank you very much for this. When I got the information, I was outside the country. I was taken aback because I didn’t know anything like that was coming around. I never lobbied for anything. So, I really appreciate that and the fact that it is a recognition of the work we do. I keep doing my things under the radar. I’m usually a behind-the-scenes kind of person. So, I was a bit emotional.”

He commended the management of LEADERSHIP Newspapers for sustaining the legacy of the company since the demise of its founding chairman, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, and recounted some of his interactions with him. “Late Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah and I used to interact. I used to be the Deputy Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria. So, when I got this, I reflected back on our interactions in those days, and the conversations we had, his vision for LEADERSHIP and other things. Until he passed on, we were very much in touch. So, I remembered our conversation. It was quite emotional for me when I saw this.

“I always say I’m the man behind the scenes. Whatever I achieve, it’s my team. Whatever recognition comes is just me as the front, but it is my team, over the years, working together. So, I must thank them for making it possible. I lead, but I have strong support behind me.”

He also said that the ideals of the award are more important, which is to show upcoming bankers in the sector that they can be recognised for their work without trying to sell themselves.
In his speech, vice chairman of LEADERSHIP Group Limited, Mike Okpere, said Okpanachi’s name came up as Banker of the Year 2025 during deliberations on worthy Nigerians to be considered for awards by a team of 54 assessors in the company recently.

He said, “Once every year, we all sit to examine the polity, look at economic indices, look at the banking environment, look at the agric environment, look at general governance, all that with a view to coming up with people that are making marks in society, that are taking Nigeria forward from one position to the other. This year, when we sat down and reviewed activities of 2025, after a lot of debates and the rest of them, your name came up as our Banker of the Year 2025.”