On 18th August 1943, started his career as a banker at Cooperative Bank Plc. Ibadan in 1960. Professionally he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK; Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigeria and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria. He formally disengaged from Cooperative Bank in 1983 to focus his attention on the family’s fledging trading Business. For over twenty years, he has been chairman of the Honeywell Group, which he has nurtured into a conglomeration of highly successful businesses, comprising investments in energy, foods: infrastructure, real estate and services. An astute and highly visionary investor cu entrepreneur, his domestic and foreign interests cut across diverse economic sectors. In September 2006, he was elected the 16th president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange thereby assuming the responsibility of inspiring step change transformation of the Nigerian capital market
Oba Otudeko is presently Chairman of the Boards of FBN Bank (UK) Limited, First Trustees Nigeria Limited, Fan Milk of Nigeria Plc., Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Nigerian-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, and Khalil & Dibbo (Haulage) Limited.
As a public-spirited leader, he was formerly Chairman of the National Maritime Authority; Director, Central Bank of Nigeria; Member, Constituent Assembly responsible for drafting a new Constitution, 1988 to 1989, and Council Member, Manufactures’ Association of Nigeria. Outside Nigeria, he hold directorship positions in private companies operating in real estate, international trad and finance, including the West Africa Banking Group, Ecobank Transnational Inc., Togo.
Over the years, he has attended management courses at several prestigious institutions, amongst which are the Harvard Business School, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne Switzerland, and the Arthur D. Little School of Management.
He was the Chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University (formerly Ogun State University), Ago-Iwoye in Nigerian(2001 – 2010) and a member of the Africa Regional Advisory Board of London Business School. In recognition of his many contributions to the economic and social development of Nigeria, Oba Otudeko has, at various times, been conferred with many awards and honours. Among such honors and awards are: Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) in 2000 from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which was upgraded to the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR) in 2002; he was again upgraded to Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) in November 2011 Honourary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye; Paul Harris Fellow Award of Rotary International; Honorary Citizen of Dallas Texas, USA, and Honoured Citizen of Meziara, Lebanon, amongst other awards.