Herbert Wigwe, Death And The Vanity Of Life

The Insight by Lateef Adewole

The late legendary fuji musician, Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, a.k.a “Alhaji Agba”, may God rest his soul, known for deep and philosophical compositions full of wisdom during his lifetime, waxed an album about 33 years ago, in 1991. The title of that album was “Fantasia-Fuji”. There were two sides to the album. The second side was dedicated to “ikú” (death). There, he said many things about death. I listened to that album countless times. It was full of sober admonitions and cautionary advices. How I wish I can reproduce it here. Being in Yoruba too, translating it to English language will lose its depth. However, I will write an abridged version of it here.

“Death is so powerful that no ‘juju’ person gets antidote to it. It is so respected that Almighty God does not query his works. Had it mean it kills believers and people of God which cause Him to be angry with death, it would never have done so again, only unbelievers would have been killed by it, but no, the same death kills both saints and sinners. If death will accept bribes, he wouldn’t have killed rich people but only the poor, but no, same death will kill both of them. If death needs house to reside, he wouldn’t have killed landlords, but only tenants, but no, he kills both.”

“If death considers popularity, celebrities wouldn’t have been killed by it but nonentities, but no, he cares not about that. We come from God and we shall return to Him. What’s most important is for death to meet us doing good deeds, so that we have something to account for on the day of resurrection. No one will escape death. But our prayer is for the younger ones (children) to outlive their older ones (parents). The death that will kill young children should rather take their aged parents first.”

“Therefore, when there is no escaping death, why do we then get scared of it even before it comes? Whenever it’s time, nothing stops it. Whatever one is doing at that moment is inconsequential. There is no excuse when death knocks. It doesn’t care for anything. He understands all languages, though he won’t even speak to anyone before he takes the person’s life. Don’t you see that death is heartless? The same death kills the rich, the poor, the sane, the mad, the king in his palace, the homeless destitute. Apart from the Almighty God, death is heartless and has no regard for anyone. It takes away whoever it wishes.”

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“If all these are true, once we are dead, all our pursuit of worldly success and riches end. All the assets we will leave behind will be shared by others with nothing to benefit us. Your death will afford your children inheritance. Even them, whatever they become with such inheritance, they will also end up dead one day. The mansion that you built and feeling important about, you will be removed from there and taken to the grave, outside, for burial. The beautiful wife or handsome husband you love and cherish so much, who you left behind, will soon belong to another man or woman after your death.”

“If this life is such ephemeral, why do take it so seriously, overworking ourselves, chasing all these worldly and vainly things? This is the admonition of to all. Those who want to live flamboyantly can go ahead. All that will end one day. God neither begets nor was begotten, but He is a God of retribution. So, this is enough an admonition to all.”

I went to this extent to translate that song substantially to convey the message therein. Without even saying anything, reading through it is enough admonition to anyone. It was such a loaded sermon. Why did I do this? It was triggered by a very unfortunate incident that enveloped the financial sector of Nigeria last Friday, with the sudden death of one of the banking titans, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, the owner of Access Bank Plc.

It was in an helicopter crash that happened in Nevada, California, USA. It was more disastrous because it involved five other people, which included his wife, Chizoba, his son, Chizi, and another business mogul, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former CEO of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) Plc. He is the son of another business mogul, Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, who just passed away last year October. What greater calamity could befall a man and his family than this? Herbert left three other children and aged parents.

Since last Saturday when the news of that accident broke and I heard it, a pall of sorrow was cast on that weekend for me. I felt a kind of ‘personal’ loss as if he was related to me. I don’t even have an active account in Access Bank. But I felt that way because, I see him as a Nigerian ‘star’. For his sun to set at noon like that was heartbreaking for me. One can say he was at his prime, at a young age of 57! And to have attained such a height, spoke to his brilliance, doggedness and ambitious pursuit. I hate to see people get terminated after toiling for so long to succeed.

My biggest sympathy goes to his two parents who are ‘unfortunate’ to still be alive to witness the loss of such a prominent child. His father is about 90. His mother should be in 80’s. At such age when they would have been fulfilled and looking forward to meet their Lord, and hopeful and happy to leave him and his other siblings behind, to now witness his death, will have no equivalent devastation. Same family lost his elder brother 27 years ago and thought it was over. How would they be feeling now? Only the Almighty God can console them. This is exactly what Sikiru Ayinde Barrister sang about children not dying before their parents.

May God give the parents, his children and their entire family, friends and associates, the fortitude to bear such irreplaceable loss. His importance to the banking and business community has been reflected in the calibre of those who have been mourning him, the tributes they wrote and different commentaries on his life by them, both in private and in the media. But, why did he seem so ‘important’ that made his death shook the country, especially the business and financial world? It is because of his exploits in the banking sector in the last two decades in particular. He was a ‘banking whiz kid’.

Herbert Wigwe was the co-owner of Access bank, under Access Holdings Plc, along with his bosom friend, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. These two smart, brilliant and ambitious young men, working in Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) Plc in the 90’s, teamed up and dreamt to own their own bank. They eventually got hold of Access Bank in 2002, a small struggling bank, originally owned by the late Chief Omole and Tokunbo Aromalaran, from Ilesha, in now Osun State, who founded it in 1988 and got incorporated as private commercial bank and started operation in 1989. With their ‘magic wand’, the duo of Aig and Herbert turned around the fortune of that bank.

Aigboje was the first CEO between 2002 and 2013, when he stepped down, his partner and friend, Herbert, took over. Under their leadership, the bank kept expanding and breaking new grounds, both locally and internationally. The bank now has presence in about 20 countries around the world. Few landmark, earth-shaking events that characterised Herbert and Aigboje’s banking career started in 2012, after they took over Access bank. A small bank then, was announced to have acquired another ‘giant’ bank when compared in size, assets, coverage and value.

The then Intercontinental Bank (IB) Plc, owned by Dr. Erastus Akingbola, was declared insolvent and taken over by the CBN, with Sanusi Lamido, Aig’s friend and school mate, as the governor then. Access Bank, with a share value of N1 per share, acquired Intercontinental Bank with a share valued at N7 per share then, with N50 billion, though, was believed to worth more than N400 billion. This was despite the fact that the same Access Bank was owning Intercontinental Bank N15 billion, the money that Aig and Herbert borrowed from Akingbola of Intercontinental Bank to acquire Access Bank. This sent shock waves through the banking sector.

After that, Access Bank ‘exploded’ (literally), with the benefit of the humongous assets owned by Intercontinental Bank with over 350 branches nationwide. They continued to grow from strength to strength. Another similar incident to this was the acquisition or merger, as the case may be, of former Diamond Bank Plc, by Access Bank in 2012. Diamond Bank was the brainchild and family legacy of Chief Paschal Dozie, another business tycoon. This merger pushed Access Bank to become one of the most prominent bank in Nigeria.

In fact, as at today, it is adjudged to be the biggest bank in Nigeria, in terms of asset. Can anyone imagine that? More than the traditional historical banks like First Bank Plc, Union Bank, and other ‘senior’ banks like GTB where both Aig and Herbert cut their teeth in banking, Zenith, UBA and so on. This speaks to the brilliance and visionary leadership of these two drivers of the bank over the years. Just some months ago, Access Bank acquired some other banks in some countries in Africa. They kept going on and on, and they have remained a pride of Nigeria. So, Herbert’s death was a great loss to the country as a whole, beyond his immediate family and friends, and the financial sector.

He also has another vision to transform the educational sector with his incursion through his newly established world-class university: Wigwe University, which is situated in his village, Isiokpo, in Ikwerre LGA, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I watched the video clip of the site, showing the infrastructures put in place. It’s jaw dropping. The Abia State governor, Dr. Alex Otti, his close friend, revealed in his tribute about him, that Herbert said he wanted to make Wigwe University the ‘Havard’ of Africa. That’s an ambitious and inspiring dream. His plan included teaching and mentoring there personally, as well as getting the powerful business moguls like Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, and the likes, to teach and mentor the students. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Such was the person of Herbert. Now he is gone.

In a deeper rumination, like Alhaji Agba sang, if we will eventually die, why do we go through all these hassles of life? Of what use are all the worldly acquisitions that we desperately crave and ready to sacrifice anything to have? Everything Herbert has laboured for is no longer useful or important to him. Sadly, his wife and son, who could have been immediate beneficiaries and carry on with his legacies, died with him. The rest three are still younger. What will become of everything is what no one can say.

In Otedola’s tribute to him, he said that just last December, Herbert invited him and Dangote to a dinner in his newly completed ultramodern palatial home in Ikoyi, where he gave them the tour of the house. He newly built and moved into it as an edifice befitting of his status as a ‘wealthy’ man who has ‘arrived’, as we say in local parlance. Different figures have been put on the property, as high as N80 billion. No one has put it at less than N10 billion. The video of that house has since surfaced on social media and it’s a ‘miracle’ to behold.

Now, he, his wife and son, are no longer available to enjoy the ‘extreme’ luxuries that are available in that magnificent home. Of what use is it then? The house is so massive that I have been wondering if the remaining three children can even live there by themselves without being scared. What about maintaining it? Except a trust fund to do so is established, it will be impossible with the absence of the head of that family to foot the bills. Many things were said to be computerised, using Google and Artificial Intelligence (AI). “Big man big trouble.”

On the flip side, his death has continued to generate mixed reactions. Many long buried secrets are being exhumed. Some did not spare him, despite being dead. They spoke to treachery, betrayals, backstabbing, cheating and many unpalatable stories. Some might say it’s all about business, but there should be honour among thieves. The original founders of Access Bank were said to have been cheated out of their sweat on the acquisition of that bank and all traces to them completely obliterated. In fact, many never knew these people until now after the stories started popping up.

The case of Akingbola and his life sweat in Intercontinental Bank was worse. It was said that Akingbola took the two young turks on his wing, saw them like his sons, and encouraged them for their smartness and brilliance. That was why he loaned them the N15bn to buy Access Bank. Unfortunately, the same pair reportedly connived with their other fellow ‘treacherous’ friends to ‘steal’ Intercontinental Bank from Akingbola. Some prominent names were mentioned in the dirty deals. To them, it’s all about business. All is fair in love and war!

It did not end there, Akingbola was hounded for years using EFCC, his other assets confiscated, some he later retrieved through legal means when he proved his innocence. He might not have been a saint too. He is still alive today at 78, but his life was never the same again. He is living his quiet life somewhere. One can only imagine what must be going through his mind now, as many commentators put what befell Herbert as karma. They mentioned various calamities that have befallen or still befalling all others involved in that stealth. Whether that is true or not, only God knows. But Alhaji Agba mentioned that Almighty God begets ‘revenge’. I don’t like to judge anyone. That is for the Lord.

The death of Dr. Herbert Wigwe is a painful and colossal loss to our country. This should be a lesson to all of us still alive, especially the rest of his friends and people in his class or business. Vanity upon vanity, all is vanity! The atrocious activities of banks and their owners are part of the conversations that his death brought to the fore, especially with the difficulties facing millions of Nigerians due to economic hardship, occasioned by the crisis in the forex. The banks, their owners and top executives are the biggest culprits.

I have had cause to query how banks were growing and declaring humongous profits yearly, while the economy was wobbling. Where is that money coming from? Which businesses, manufacturing or inventions did the banks support that was responsible for that? The bank owners and top executives are living large at the expense of the citizens. Apart from numerous open official means by which they steal from their customers, their unpatriotic acts of economic sabotages kill the economy, the country and the people, by extension.

For years, banks get dollars from CBN at ridiculously low rates to be given to end users, but you can never get one dollar from them. You will be directed to malams doing Bureau De Change (BDC). Why? Where are the dollars? CBN revealed that they had in excess of $5bn being hoarded to speculate (not exact words). These are forex they would have gotten at very low price but will sell at high prices at ‘black market’. That’s round-tripping which is a criminal offence. But, it’s all about business to them. Chief Bode George spoke candidly about this few weeks ago and called out all the bank owners, including Herbert. After all these acquisitions, legally or otherwise, what will be the end of all of us? Death! “Eni ba ranti iku, ko se rere. Eniyan to ranti ofo ko se saara” (whoever remembers death should do good. Whoever remembers calamity should make sacrifice).

Does donating money in churches or mosques after one has done evil that ruined the lives of others, suffice as recompense? When you steal from millions and then go to support few tens or hundreds, pay tithe, and contribute to building or solely build a church or mosque, will these erase your sins? In Islam, God forgives sins against Himself. But when you steal from another or sin against fellow human beings, you need to seek the person’s or persons’ forgiveness, return what belongs to them, before your repentance can be acceptable to God. This is a condition precedent. Therefore, we all should be careful in all that we do. Life and everything in it are temporary.

To the unpatriotic Nigerians who are always quick to condemn everything about their country, none of them has been attacking and blaming America, President Biden, Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in USA or any organisation there, just because of that crash, which was actually one among many others. Had it happened here, Nigeria would have been toast. The social media would have been on fire, full of many irresponsible vile attacks on the country, President Tinubu, Minister of Aviation and FG in general, by these ’emergency activists’. But, they are all silent now. Shame. Nigerians need to learn to love their country and be patriotic. You don’t value what you have until you lose it!

May God continue to protect us and guide us aright.

God Bless Nigeria.

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February 17, 2024.