The Insight by Lateef Adewole
There seems to be no end to the stories about and around the late Dr. Herbert Wigwe and his family members, who died along with him in the unfortunate plane crash in January this year. Their remains were laid to rest at the mausoleum, which he specially built within the expanse of land of his Wigwe International University in his village, Isiokpo, in Ikwerre LGA, Rivers State. As if he had a premonition of his death, which is an inevitable end of any living soul, he built the tomb. Although, he could not have expected it to come so soon at just 57 years of age. He must have dug only one tomb for himself alone.
Definitely, no one in their right sense could have planned for his own death along with the closest members of his family; the wife and first son. Surely, while he could have been forgiven and overlooked by his people for building that tomb for himself, could even have been praised for it as a realist, any attempt to have built additional ones would have attracted the ire of the same people, demanding if he intended for what the Yorubas called “àkúfà”(multiple sequential deaths in a family). It wouldn’t have sat well with them.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened. The tragedy claimed three at once, not even one after the other. So, on Saturday, 9th of March, they were finally laid to rest, amidst torrent of tears by the community members. They knew they have lost a very illustrious son. He purposely sited his world-class university in that community as a way of attracting further developments and putting it on the global map. Not until after the university was sited there and his death, many Nigerians and people around the world never knew about that community or where it is located. Herbert showed it to the world.
A comprehensive one-week programme was organised for them, with each given alloted day where their friends, families and associates gathered to pay tributes to their lost loved ones. With the ‘larger than life’ image of Herbert, his own seemed to overshadow the rest, expectedly so, given the calibre of his friends and associates. However, this did not take away the depth of grief expressed in the programmes organised for his wife, Chizoba and son, Chizzi, by their own friends and associates too, apart from their family members, who collectively grieved for all of them.
I read how the son was eulogised by a friend of his as being a very disciplined, hardworking and very focused young man. He was just 30. He was undergoing tutelage in another of his father’s financial establishment, the African Financial Corporation (AFC). He is being groomed to take over at Access Holdings Plc, from his father, in future. Despite having a privileged background, he was said to be a humble young man. A prominent friend of his, Kiddwaya, the former Big Brother Naija housemate, cancelled his 31st birthday in his honour.
The wife’s financial prowess also came to light after their death. The leading construction company, Craneburg, belonged to her. This is a company that has taken up huge contracts across the country, both at the Federal and State levels. It was said to be responsible for the construction of the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos, Owerri-Okigwe road in Imo state, their breathtaking newly built palatial home in Ikoyi, many bridges and flyovers across the country. The company is on a current project worth N50 billion for Abia State right now. She was from a well to do family in Anambra and did carve a niche for herself too.
The only disheartening part in all of these is the fizzling out in the media, about the death of the fourth person, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Herbert’s bossom friend. A prominent business man in his own right, progeny of another prominent business tycoon, the late Chief Chris Ogunbanjo. This might have been so for some reasons. One, he was fortunate to still have his wife and children alive. Also, he buried his own father at the very old age of 99 last year October. So, many could have considered his family’s loss as minimal, compared to the Wigwes, whose patriarch at 90 and matriarch at 80’s, are still alive to witness such a calamity of burying their son and his family members. May the soul of Abimbola also find peace.
None of these programmes for Chizoba and Chizzy was anything compared to what was witnessed at the ‘Night of Tribute’ organised for late Herbert in Victoria Island, Lagos, on Wednesday, 6th of March. As I watched the programme, I was moved to tears, listening to so many people spoke from their grieving hearts, about him and their relationships with him while he was alive. The venue was packed full of dignitaries. Business tycoons, diplomats, religious leaders, politicians; governors, senators, honourable members, and ministers. The Vice President Kashim Shettima was personally there. He is a former banker too.
As the Yorubas would say: “ojó a bá ku làá d’ère, ènìyàn ò sunwòn láàyè.” People are more appreciated and eulogised after they are no more, than the love shown to them while alive. If Herbert could see and listen to all that were said by his family members, friends and associates that night, he would have felt fulfilled that he touched so many peoples’ lives, one way or the other. I have read countless other stories about him, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
However, that night, only the goods were expected to be said. That was a night to celebrate him. Like the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Guarantee Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “Wigwe packed into 57 years what most exceptional people will not pack into two lifetimes. Herbert was my colleague, friend, brother, and competitor, only Herbert could have been all those things at once.” They were former colleagues in GTB as young bankers and attained the Executive Director (ED) position the same day. He said, “but Herbert wanted more.” He wanted his own bank and moved to acquire Access Bank with another of their colleague, Aigboje. Segun Agbaje said he was the “coward” among them who stayed back.
Too many people cried why giving their tributes. It was a night full of emotion for many. I don’t want to delve into any conspiracy about what could have made them, especially some politicians, many of whom have held or are still holding public offices, to cry. I have read so many interpretations and insinuations. One even likened it to a story of a smart young boy who used to help many of the 419 guys (fraudsters) in the early days of it in the 1990s. He used to help them ‘run things’, like operates the scam emails, collects money on their behalf, and helps them to hide it. He had all the passwords to the emails, all the codes used, etc.
Sadly, he had an accident on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and died suddenly. The story continued that at his funeral, all the 419 guys cried while they praised his goodness to them. It concluded that it was just that they all couldn’t voice out what was making them to actually cry. In life, there will always be many dimensions based on perspectives and on which side one is. This is by the way.
On that Wednesday night, possibly the most moving tribute to Herbert was paid by no less a personality than the 14th Emir of Kano, HRH, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CON. This should explain why the video clip went viral afterwards. I have watched it few times and I couldn’t, but felt a deep sense of loss, as if it concerned me personally. Sanusi broke down in tears, not once but multiple times, and only summoned courage to get his tribute all out, in the midst of continously wiping tears from his eyes. One thing about that moment was the depth of their friendship.
He said many things that shocked the audience. He narrated how their paths crossed while Herbert and Aigboje were owners of Access Bank and he was ED in First Bank Plc, in charge of risk assessment. He said he told his management that Access Bank was the real threat to them, not minding that it was a tiny bank at the time, because the guys behind it were doing exactly what they, the big bank, was doing. And they were succeeding at it. So, First Bank should watch out for them. It sounded off to the management then.
Many years after, his predictions came to pass, as that tiny Access Bank started to “swallow” other giant banks, starting with Intercontinental Bank in 2012. I don’t want to go into the details again. By 2018, they acquired or merged with Diamond Bank, another giant. They have done this in not less than 15 countries around the world, so much so that Access is the biggest bank in Nigeria today by assets. What roles he played as the CBN governor then, he never mentioned.
When he was dethroned and to be banished to a village in Nasarrawa State, he said Herbert was the first person he called. And in less than two hours, a private jet was waiting at Kano Airport to airlift him and his family to Lagos, provided by Herbert. He put them up in a five star hotel in Lagos for days while he secured a comfortable accommodation for them, all fully paid for by Herbert. He has been supporting them ever since. He gave a standing order that he only needs to ask Sola, his PA who escaped death, for anything he needed, all through those turbulent period. He made his transition smooth and seamless.
Another of his stories was that as a man with many children, who desires that they all be well educated, he decided to put all his savings in a trust and made Herbert the trustee, to be in charge. He said he told Herbert that he knew that if he (Sanusi) dies, he (Herbert) will educate all his children, even if he (Sanusi) had no single kobo in savings. Such was the absolute trust he had in Herbert. Can we see the irony of life? Sanusi was making all those arrangements with the hope that he will die before Herbert, who is younger than him. Sanusi is 62 now, but God’s ways are not the same as men’s ways.
Herbert had died now. He left behind three other children; Tochi, Hannah and David, who are still young. He had unfinished projects, particularly the Wigwe University. What will become of all of these after his demise? What will Sanusi and so numerous others present, who paid lofty tributes to how Herbert helped them, saved their businesses, supported their political aspirations, lifted them up, changed their lives for better, and so on, do, now that the table has turned? He can no longer help himself or his family but needs all the helps of his friends and associates going forward.
The essence of this write-up today is to prick our conscience about the kind of relationships we are in. Who are your friends? From all the narrations and tributes to Herbert, he was a great friend to his friends. He would have enemies definitely, as he would have stepped on many peoples’ toes in his ambitious pursuit of success and greatness. But, I am more concerned about who our friends are? What are they to us? Are they the ‘fair weather’ ones who are ‘besties’ when the goods are going, but disappear when life came crashing?
We have only known that Herbert was a ‘real friend’ to all these people who poured encomium on him. It is from now onward that we will begin to know who his own ‘real friends’ are, now that they cannot benefit directly from him again or he can’t help them in any way. I don’t want to delve into the controversy around the carnival-like 60th birthday celebration of the Wigwes’ “mother-in-Lord” in RCCG, City of David, where they worshiped while alive, Mrs. Siju Iluyomade, and were strong pillars to the church and the church leadership. It took place just few weeks after their deaths while their corpses were yet to get cold in the morgue.
One fertile ground where one would, ordinarily, expect strong bonds of friendship to be formed, is an alumni association. Most people belong to one or few. From primary school to university. Some professional institutions too. These alumni provide the opportunities for school mates to connect and relate with one another. They are supposed to be avenues to help one another, in any way possible. Fingers are not equal. Such associations should be able to help bridge such gaps created by life among the mates. But, what do they do there? Most times; competition, show off, etc. Who is richer than who? Whose car is the most beautiful and expensive? Whose family lives most ostentatiously? And so many other inanities. It can get so bad that some less privileged ones avoid such gatherings entirely for fear of being embarrassed. What kind of friends are such members?
At work place, in communities, in religious organisations and so on, we form relationships. What basis are these relationships? Are they bossom because you are all doing well, at least, all working and earning? What happens when any of you loses their job? Do you abandon them because they have dropped out of your circle? Do you stop picking their calls, not to talk of calling them? Do you give them moral support even if you don’t have money to spare? Everything isn’t money by the way.
What about business associates? What kind of friends are they? The ‘dog eats dog’ or one who watches each other’s back? Are you friends of club goers, women / men carriers, drinking partners, or what? Are you guys jolly good fellows since all of your are doing great in your businesses? What happens when anyone of the group members has problem with their business? Will these friends be there to rescue him/her or begin to avoid him/her like a plague? Will your friends support and give you more push when moving up or they pull you down? Will your friends lend you their helping hands to lift you up when you are down or kick and trample upon you the more? Who are your friends?
Like the cliché goes: “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together with others.” I wrote few years ago, in an article titled: “Dwarfed Success: Between Cooperation And Competition.” It was published on 18th of November, 2020. It is online. There, I highlighted the importance of working together in cooperation to attain greater success, far more than individuals could have achieved. Ironically, Herbert and Aigboje’s relationship was one of the examples I gave there. Unfortunately, what most of us engaged in is unhealthy competition. This often dwarfs our individual successes.
No matter how the relationships that Herbert’s friends formed with him are viewed, they made them attained great successes. The best example was the one with his non-biological “twin brother”, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. Despite not related, they formed an unbreakable bond, stronger than many family ties. Their souls and beings became intertwined to drive a purpose and achieved greatness. Same as many others that had relationships with them along the line. That’s friendship!
Aigboje has been the pillar of support to the whole family since the incident happened and held everything together. He has been strong for everyone. I wish him strength to be able to navigate the lonely challenging journey ahead. He has always had Herbert by his side in the last 30 years plus. He has just stepped back to take charge of the leadership of the Access Holdings Plc as non-Executive Chairman, to guide the organisation they both built.
In all, while we want good friends and associates around us, we should be the best friend that others desire too, who they can count on at all times, not only during the good times. May the souls of the departed rest in peace, and be rewarded according to their works while alive.
May God continue to guide us aright.
God Bless Nigeria.
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March 16, 2024.