Take wise risks and prosper
Guest Speaker with participants at the programme
The importance of risk taking, for the survival of any business concern, was brought to the fore at the 2nd Town and Gown Interactive seminar series of the Department of Banking and Finance, Covenant University, when it hosted the Director, Association of Enterprise Risk Management, Mr. Olayinka Odutola as a Guest Speaker.
Presenting a paper on the topic ‘Enterprise Risk Management in Financial Institutions,’ Mr. Odutola said, “We all have risks to take at certain times in our lives, but we need to pray for the wisdom of God in order to make the best of decisions”. According to him, all financial institutions must be adept in the issue of risk management because occasion will arise that will subject this knowledge to a test.
Speaking further, he said that risk taking could come in any form; it could be through the inadequacies of people, processes, systems or even external events such as market failures or government’s instability, which could hamper all the management competencies at any given time.
Mr. Odutola was of the opinion that calculated risk taking could give a well-established financial institution advantage because a wise risk taker will use opportunities others are not seeing to gain advantage over them. He, however,
enjoined participants at the seminar to always take advantage of the wisdom of God in the Bible in whatever risk they want to engage in.
Illustrating with the biblical story of Queen Esther who fasted and prayed as a prelude to taking a risk that was tied with the death penalty, the guest speaker emphasized with a quote from John Augustus Shedd, 1928 ‘‘A ship is safe in a habour, but that is not what it was made for…,’’ meaning that we need to get out of our comfort zones sometimes by taking the risk necessary to propel us forward in business and life.
In his remarks, the Head, Department of Banking and Finance, Dr. Ailemen Ikpefan, urged the students to make the most of the advice coming from an industry-experienced personality, Mr. Olayinka Odutola, when they go into the work environment.
Present at the seminar were CU’s distinguished Professor of Banking and Finance, Professor J.A.T. Ojo, former Registrar of CU, Dr. J.N Taiwo and other members of the department.
