Segun Banwo, Pastor in charge of RCCG Life Gate Parish, retires from ExxonMobil at 55 after 25 years of meritorious service, including 10 years on the board of the company and 13th year as its chief financial officer, writes Tokunbo Adedoja, highlighting his fascinating work-ministry balance
Everyone desires to excel in their own space. Few do – and even fewer deserve it. For Pastor Segun Banwo, the Pastor-in-Charge of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Zone 3, Life Gate Parish, excellence has been a boundless desire, and it has also been well deserved.
Fondly called PSB (acronym for Pastor Segun Banwo), his life story pictures a journey in excellence in both career and ministry. From a successful professional career spanning over 33 years in companies in Nigeria and the United States, to a bumpy but priceless walk with God, PSB is an exemplar of an excellent blend of ministry and career.
Meeting the demands of ministry as a pastor, and pursuing career are a tricky mix. Many have failed on one end; some have flopped on both. But PSB has achieved success on both callings.
He started his professional career in October 1991 at Arthur Andersen & Co (now KMPG), for his mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). In 1993, he joined Elf Petroleum (now Total Petroleum) as Cost Controller, and moved to Esso Exploration and Production (an affiliate of ExxonMobil) in July 1997 as Senior Accountant. The company was then a small venture office still in the exploration phase, with no production.
In December 1998, Banwo left for his MBA programme at the Harvard Business School in Massachusetts, United States. Harvard for him was a wonderful experience in learning and interaction. “There, I had exceptionally bright classmates! The best among the best of talents from across 88 countries. It was a truly humbling experience for me,” he said, recalling his experience.
In US, he worked at the Dallas office of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as Strategy Consultant from August 2000. “It afforded me a great experience shuttling across several cities in the US, but with the downside of spending more than half of the time away from family,” he said, while describing his experience at BCG.
He moved to the Houston office of Landmark (a subsidiary of Halliburton) in February 2002, where he worked briefly as Principal Consultant, Business Development, before relocating back to Nigeria.
Back home, Banwo worked at Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited since July 2002, holding several positions, and crowning his time there with the posts of Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, positions he held for 10 years and 13 years respectively until his retirement recently.
PSB has played at the pinnacle of one of the world’s most rewarding industries – the oil and gas industry. But he finds real fulfilment in working with and for God.
He sees working for God as the most honourable and rewarding of all jobs. This belief, which is at the core of the Christian journey, is born of experience from decades of walking with God – and working for God.
“But the best job of all, the love of my life, the reason I was born, pastor in the vineyard of the Lord, started in a strange way in August 1997,” he says.
His “ride with God,” though bumpy, has its origins in a divine encounter. ….
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