ElewechiNgozi Okikeis an award-winning author, who has touched many lives through her inspirational writings. She is a motivational speaker, life coach, mentor, wife, mother and grandmother, who has been married for over 41 years. She is an experienced counsellor, who has spent almost four decades in the higher education sector and has supported and mentored hundreds of young adults. Her counsel and guidance have restored positive mental health to students, saved numerous marriages and provided hope in situations that many considered hopeless.
Elewechi is passionate about making a difference in the lives of others. She shows love and compassion in meaningful and practical ways. This is reflected in all her writings.
Elewechi has authored The Greatest Debtor to His Love and a Trophy of His Grace, Your New Life (1st and 2nd editions), Living for Purpose, The Torch Bearer, How I Stood Up to Cancer, Are You a Kingdom Woman?Life’s Lessons from a Collection of Donkey Stories and Together Forever: 15 Secrets to Lifelong Marriage, amongst others.
Professional Life
She is an education and training consultant, with over 35 years’ experience in teaching/training, research and consultancy. She has held senior management positions for over 16years, during which she has taken on different roles including headship of the Accounting and Finance Group, Internal Quality Audit Manager, Quality Manager, Equality and Diversity Manager, Research Development Manager, and Research Student Manager (Director of PhD programmes) at Sunderland Business School UK. In addition to her being the Director of the International Centre for Research in Accountability and Governance (CENTRAG), she is also the Chief Executive of the Academy for Excellence in Education (AFEXED. She has held visiting professorial appointments at Covenant University, Ogun State, Nigeria as well as at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining the academia in 1980, Professor Okike was in professional accounting and company secretarial practice.
Professor Okike making a presentation at Covenant University
Membership of Professional Organisations
Professor Okike is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in the UK. She has been an executive member of the African Accounting and Finance Association (AAFA), Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies (AFEE) Special Interest Group and Corporate Governance Special Interest Group of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA). She is a member of the American Accounting Association (AAA), the European Accounting Association (EAA), the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA), the European Auditing Research Network (EARNet), the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance (CACG) and the Nigerian Institute of Management (MNIM). She is also an Advisory Board member of, and Consultant to, the Institute of Corporate Governance of Nigeria (ICGN), and Chair of the Editorial Board of its journal. She has been a member of the Conference of Professors of Accounting and Finance (CPAF), UK since 1997. This is the forum where all accounting and finance professors in the UK meet annually to discuss issues affecting accounting and finance education in the country, including teaching, research, funding and relationship with the accounting professional institutes, amongst others, and make recommendations to the Government and other bodies, as appropriate.
Academic reviews
Professor Okike has been an academic reviewer for a number of reputable national and international accounting and business journals, including Corporate Governance: An International Review; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal; Accounting Education: An International Journal; International Journal of Critical Accounting; Critical Perspectives in Accounting; Journal of Business Ethics; Management Research News; African Journal of Business, amongst others. She was appointed subject specialist reviewer by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) (Welsh Funding Council in the UK) in 1997/98 and Subject Specialist Reviewer (Accountancy) for the QAA in the (2000 – 2006) round of assessments in England, Wales and Scotland, in which she took part in a number of subject reviews. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK is the body responsible for safeguarding the quality and standards in UK universities and colleges, to ensure that students have the best possible learning experience, and good value for their money.
Publication and research funding
Professor Okike has published widely in a number of highly rated, peer-reviewed academic journals and obtained research funding from national and international funding bodies. Her primary area of research interest is international comparative studies in accounting and auditing; in particular, issues relating to corporate governance and accountability. She has written extensively on these subjects and presented papers at learned conferences nationally and internationally. Recently, her research interests have broadened, and she is also exploring innovative ways of teaching auditing, accounting, corporate governance and business management, and the tripartite relationship between research, practice and teaching in these areas. Professor Okike has recently published Corporate Governance in Commonwealth Countries, in collaboration with colleagues from various Commonwealth Countries.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=corporate+governance+in+commonwealth+countries+-+Elewechi+okike&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
She is experienced in the education and training of accountants, auditors and directors. She was contracted by a national newspaper in Nigeria, Vanguard to write weekly topics in accounting in their educational column. Professor Okike was also invited to lead a TV discussion, ‘Women in Development’ on Lagos Television.
She was invited by Transparency International (the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption) to contribute an article, “Seeding Corporate Integrity: The Challenges to Accounting and Auditing in Nigeria” in the 2009 issue of Global Corruption Report published in 2009. This Report is a flagship publication of Transparency International. The 2009 edition brought together leading experts and practitioners in the field of corruption and the private sector to present the latest insights on a broad range of related issues in accessible and policy-relevant manner.
In 2000, Professor Okike was invited to represent Nigeria at the Inaugural Conference of the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, in which she presented a paper on “The Status of Corporate Governance in Nigeria”.
Professor Okike at the Inaugural Conference of the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance
In recognition of her international reputation as a leader in accountability, governance and social responsibility issues in emerging economies, she was appointed an advisory board member of Natural Environmental Technology (NET) Africa. NET Africa is an international non-profit organisation based in Brussels, which works in partnership with governments in emerging and developing countries, innovators, universities and policy makers and other organisations for understanding the interactions between the economy and the environment.
Community initiatives
Within and outside academia, Professor Okike is very passionate about making a difference in all aspects of societal and communal life. She has been involved in community initiatives both in the UK and Nigeria, including her appointment by the Sunderland City Council, UK, as a member of the Sunderland Community Spirit (2010-2013). This is an advisory body, which advises the Council on its plans and city initiatives. She was also a member of the Interfaith Advisory Group (IAG), a body that advises on, and promotes interfaith cohesion in the city of Sunderland.
In line with her passion to see positive change in Africa, Professor Okike established Book Aid for Africa (BAFA) (http://www.bookaidforafrica.com). The Charity (NGO) is helping to address the imbalance in educational provision in Africa, through the distribution of good quality books and other educational resources to under-resourced libraries in Africa. The University of Sunderland Nigeria Society (USNS) presented her with an award in recognition of her contribution to educational development in Africa, at an event in which the Acting High Commissioner for Nigeria in the UK and other dignitaries including the University Vice Chancellor and the Deputy Mayor of Sunderland City were present. She was invited as a guest on BEN TV to speak about ‘the importance of educating the girl child’, and about her work with BAFA. She established the Business School Multicultural Association and the Christmas hospitality programme, ‘Be a Guest at Christmas’ to help international students get integrated into the local community. Professor Okike is an award-winning inspirational author. She has published several non-fiction books all of which are available on Amazon and other retail outlets.
