Meet Doris Uzoka: Nigeria’s Potential Minister of State for Finance

Meet Doris Uzoka: Nigeria’s Potential Minister of State for Finance

By Juliet Agoyi

After weeks of keeping Nigerians waiting, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last week finally unveiled the list of some of the men and women who will make up his cabinet and help him deliver on his election promises.

In football terms, it is called first 11 but President Tinubu gave us his first 28 and we can see a lot of technocrats, politicians and long term associates of the President on the list.

In line with his pledge to give opportunities for women to blossom under his watch, President Tinubu listed eight women among the 28 nominees.

One of the women who is also a technocrat is the 41-year-old Dr. Doris Nkiru Uzoka-Aniche, a banker by career, medical doctor by training and politician by calling.

As a chattered financial analyst, the ministerial nominee has a significant experience in financial markets. She also specialises in financial risk management and portfolio management.

Dr Uzoka-Aniche was born into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Uzoka on the 16th of October 1981. A native of Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, she studied Medicine at the University of Benin. She later studied financial engineering and Data Science and also Advanced Risk and Portfolio Management. She holds a TRIUM Global Executive MBA (Masters of Business Administration).

She was appointed Commissioner for Finance by Governor Hope Uzodinma in 2021 and she is the youngest in the cabinet.

It is worthy of note that while there were other key interests from Imo state at play in the run-up to the unveiling of the ministerial list, President Tinubu insisted on Dr Uzoka-Aniche because of her professional background and long term affinity with the Lagos ruling class.

She began her banking and treasury career in Zenith Bank where she served as General Manager. She eventually headed the Human Resource and Training Department. She made another switch to treasury. After succeeding in all these roles, she challenged herself to accomplish the same feat in the financial markets. In treasury, she began with train fixed income, then currencies, then heating treasury sales and finally becoming the treasurer of the Bank.

She is a goal oriented woman, highly analytical as well as being quantitatively informed. Her excellent performance contributed immensely to the growth of Zenith Bank’s profitability and this earned her various recognitions and promotions within the organisation.

She is the present Commissioner for Finance in Imo state and her pedigree as a first-rate banker could lead her into being appointed the next Minister of State for Finance.

Dr Uzoka-Aniche has excelled in Zenith Bank. She has done well in the Imo state cabinet. Now, this is her turn to show her capacity at the federal level as a potential Minister of State for Finance.