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Back in the Age of
Innocence, 2008 to be precise, after my one millionth sighting of the
ubiquitous ‘Change We Can Believe In’ on car bumper stickers, t-shirts
and banner ads on the web, that motivational slogan tripped over to the
land of cheesiness and corniness. It became a victim of its own
success.

It was one thing to
be moved by the empathetic oratory of Barack Obama but quite another to
see its commoditisation. For me, it was all too much of a good thing to
see all those emblazoned mugs, flags and tie pins when walking down the
street. It gave ‘pedestrian’ a whole new meaning. At that point, all I
could think of was ‘Change You Had Better Deliver or Else.’ Maybe it is
still early days to judge the Obama presidency, but after the Messianic
undertones that marked the last months of his campaign, even the real
Jesus Christ will have a tough time living up to the outsized
expectations.

Sense of purpose

Two years later, I
once again find myself secretly hoping for another Believer’s High.
Maybe I am getting soft with age, but one would need a microbetight
inspiration-immune system to finish reading Arunma Oteh’s Financial
Times interview without being impressed by the director-general of the
Securities & Exchange Commission’s sense of purpose. Halfway
through the interview, I found myself nodding with approval. I thought
that, at last, here is someone who knows what the matter is and
appreciates what needs to be done. No doubt, she has her work cut out
for her. When things are broken, it does not require blinding insight
to tell what needs fixing. Actually, there is nothing extraordinary in
Ms. Oteh’s identification of the problems and proffered solutions.

No, what impressed
me was her style. She was tactful without being cagey and subtle
without being ambiguous. As the market regulator, she knows the impact
her words can have and weighed each one carefully. Populist blurting is
not her thing. In comparison to her opposite number at another
regulatory hegemon, the SEG D-G is a study in opposites. While she
obviously shares Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank governor’s, zeal for
sanitising the financial services sector, she has none of the ‘my way
or the high way’ unilateralism that seems to characterise her peer’s
utterances, admirable as his intentions might be.

Grandstanding and showmanship

Ms. Oteh’s quiet
way of going about her job has won me over. Forget the grandstanding.
Trash the showmanship. The lady has work to do and she clearly prefers
to beaver away far from the limelight. Here again, the contrast with
Lamido Sanusi comes to the fore. While the Central Bank governor, in
spite of his best efforts, seems to have become identified with the
dreaded role of The Enforcer, Ms. Oteh has side-stepped the terrifying
Labour Prefect label.

But are words
enough? Will Ms. Oteh deliver the goods? At the end of the day, that is
what it will come down to and not her fine words. Not even her
‘twenty-two years spent building a global reputation’ will pave a royal
road for her. To scale the mountain before her, the former Group
Treasurer of the African Development Bank (ADB) will require more than
intellectual competence and administrative pedigree. She, more than
anyone else, should know that the task before her is as much technical
as it is political. The barons of the ancien regime will not just stand
back and watch her hack away at the status quo. They will cajole,
threaten, resist and fight back. Too much, too soon will dissipate her
strength, and too little, too late, will steal her momentum. This
general must pick her battles carefully.

Her assumption that
the SEC is the apex regulator and should enjoy deference, as a matter
of course, will be put to the test. The market miscreants will need to
see more than her badge to surrender.

Action, not words

I find some comfort
in her past statements that action, not words, will lead Africa out of
the abyss. In the Preface of African Voices, African Visions (2004),
which she co-edited with Olugbenga Adesida, the Harvard MBA holder does
not hide her impatience for the soporific swings between analysis
paralysis and analysis lacunae that plagued commentators over
structural adjustment programs (SAP) in Africa:

‘While we were
reacting to the international financial institutions no one was really
busy trying to map out a future for the continent or design alternative
strategies to transform Africa. . . Our fear about the future is not
just that Africa is facing tremendous challenges on almost all fronts.
Africa can overcome these, as others have overcome similar handicaps.
Our fear is centred simply on the lack of new and innovative ideas.
This is the danger: the poverty of ideas and of the mind. Because it is
only with ideas that we can dissolve the multiple crises facing
Africa.’

Sweet talker or
action woman? We will soon find out. I desperately wish that the D-G
has the steely resolve to say, just like Margaret Thatcher, that other
Iron Lady: ‘to those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media
catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say. “You turn if you
want to. The lady’s not for turning.”’

Ms. Oteh, straight!

The writer is the managing director of a full service investor relations firm based in Lagos.