Pascal Gabriel Dozie, founder of the defunct Diamond Bank Plc and a former chairman of MTN Nigeria is dead.
He died at 85 from an undisclosed ailment, according to family sources.
Dozie, a celebrated banker founded the defunct Diamond Bank (now Access Bank) and was a major player for the success of telecom giant MTN Nigeria.
Dozie was born on the 9th of April 1939 to the family of Charles Dozie, a Catholic Catechist. He got his early education from Our Lady’s School Emekuku, Holy Ghost Juniorate Seminary and Holy Ghost College, Owerri where he obtained his West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
He obtained his B.Sc Economics from the London School of Economics. He also studied Operational Research and Industrial Engineering, before getting a Master’s degree in Administrative Science from City University in London.
He began his career in the United Kingdom working with the National Economic Development Office. Later on, he worked as a part-time lecturer at the North Western Polytechnic, London before he was invited to Uganda to work as Consulting Economist at the African States Consulting Organisation.
He was still working in Uganda under the civilian President, Milton Obote, when the 1971 military coup happened and Milton Obote was overthrown by General Idi Amin.
He later relocated with his family back to Nigeria. He worked at the Central Bank of Nigeria and was said to be a major contributor to some of the monetary policies that helped transform the banking sector leading to the banking renaissance of the 1980s in Nigeria.
Genial and self effacing, he was a devout Christian and a thought leader. He was also a committed community leader and quiet philanthropist.
