[NEWSCLICK NIGERIA SPECIAL TRIBUTE] WIGWE: SUNSET AT NOON FOR ‘THE FEARLESS ONE’
...Tragic exit of banking prodigy, Herbert Wigwe, wife, son unites Nigerians in grief
It is not certain that the late Herbert Wigwe, quintessential banker and financial prodigy, actually had any presentiment of his death, as many have tended to view it, when he wrote his now viral philosophical admonition about life as a “precious gift.”
Rather, those highly poignant lines presumably did surmise a quirk about the Access Bank Holdings’ Chief Executive Officer, until his death, as a man racing against life; the inscrutable inner conviction of a man who saw life as a gyre of unpredictability and ephemera that demands haste and purposeful approach, if one is to make meaning out of it. Indeed, his frontal battles with the vagaries of life and his eventual rise to stardom aptly evinces this conviction.
“Today and always,” he had written in his X(Twitter) account on January 19,2024, “let us remember that life is a precious gift– a chance to breathe, feel, love, experience and connect. Let’s honor this gift by living with purpose, kindness and gratitude, making every moment count. Let us number our days.”
It will be recalled that the consummate banker put down the philosophical admonition two days after attending the burial of one of his key managers, the late Abdul Imoyo, Head of Media, Access Bank Holdings, on January 17, 2024. Those close to Wigwe said Imoyo’s death jolted him in no small measure, because Imoyo was not just a cerebral and diligent manager, he was a top-notch professional of a sterling pedigree.
And by a quirk of fate, exactly 22 days after putting down those memorable lines about life, it was Wigwe’s turn to answer the last call, the death knell all mortals dread. And it came as a tragedy of monumental proportions.
Wigwe left Nigeria on Wednesday, January 7, 2024 for the United States of America for the purpose of witnessing the Super Bowl, the annual NPF Championship game he cherished with passion. He rarely missed the sports, he considered his guilty pleasure, every year. He, however, died in a helicopter crash alongside his wife, Chizoba; his first son, Chizi; the former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group(NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo and two crew members, who were the pilots. Wigwe was 57 years old.
Reports said the chopper flight conveying them, documented as N130CZ, operated by Orbic Air LLC, took off Friday night from Palm Springs, California, going to Boulder City, Nevada, crashed at about 10pm near a small town in California’s Mojave Desert. According to US authorities, quoting preliminary reports, a mix of rain and wintry weather was among the factors that contributed to the chopper crash.
Monstrous and pervasive best describe the degree of grief that has overtaken the nation over the tragic demise of the Wigwes, especially considering the prodigious depth of the tragedy. Indeed, for Herbert’s parents particularly, who had prided themselves seeing their son perch atop the pinnacle of the banking world as an iconic boardroom buff, the latest deaths that hit them, came as a cruel anti-climax.
Their ‘dalliance’ with death can only be compared to that of the biblical Job who lost all his children, servants and possessions in one day and was struck with mystery boils from head to toes, in a tragic quirk of fate.
About 27 years ago, precisely June5, 1997, the world literally caved in on Herbert’s father, Pastor Shingle Wigwe, when his 34-year-old first son, Osita, who was the only promising child of the family then, died in a fatal car crash some kilometres to their hometown, Isiokpo. Herbert and his siblings were still very young and struggling then.
“It was as if someone took forceps to pull out my heart,” 89-year-old Syngle Wigwe, who is a former Director- General of the Nigeria Television Authority(NTA) and Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, recalled the tragic incident in an interview with a publication, Koko Kalango, in their February, 2014 edition.
“This boy (Osita),” he added, “had the attributes of both a daughter and those of a son. He was a million solutions and a solution provider to all the family problems… I didn’t feel life was worth living anymore.” The senior Wigwe at the time he was recalling the death of his first son, had no premonition that a bigger tragedy that would see him and his wife bury another son, his daughter-in-law and grandson was in the offing!
The consummate banker was born on August 22, 1966 and hailed from Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. He got married to Chizoba Wigwe( nee Nwuba) and they had four children– Chizi(who died with his father and mother in the ill-fated crash), Tochi, Hannah and David.
He studied Accounting at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN) in Enugu State. The story of his Access Bank ancestry began in Guaranty Trust Bank(GTB), where he worked with Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede. Both were Executive Directors and they consummated their ambition to own a bank when they bought Access Bank, successfully wading through the labyrinth of titanic hurdles rolled their way, by dint of hardwork and determination.
Aig-Imoukhuede was the pioneer Managing Director in 2002 when they bought the Bank, while Herbert was his deputy. Access was small when they started, being the 65th of the 89 banks operating in the country then. But the young bank executives in their late 30s then grew the bank into a top-tier financial institution.
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Herbert took over as MD in 2013. He was a transformational financial buff who believed nothing is unattainable with determination. Today, Access is the largest bank in sheer assets. Under Herbert’s watch as MD, Access Bank is now a global brand, having grown beyond the African continent, and a financial conglomerate.
He was at one time, the Chairman of the Committee of Bank CEOs and a proud holder of a national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger(CON), conferred on him in October, 2022 by the Buhari administration.
Herbert, to all intents and purposes, was a financial whiz-kid who affected many lives, even outside the banking industry. His accomplishments were stellar and prodigious. These, coupled with his death and those of his wife and his son in such tragic circumstances have tended to unite the nation in deep grief. Tributes have been pouring in like sloshes of water from over the country and from different spheres of life– financial, business, academic etc. Governors, state and federal legislators, ministers and many more have been extolling Herbert’s sterling qualities and empathizing with his family over the peculiar circumstances of demise.
“Beyond the boardroom,” noted Festus Keyamo(SAN), Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, “Wigwe’s charisma and warmth endeared him to to all who crossed his path….”
The statement, signed by the minister’s Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood, added: “His unwavering dedication to his nation and his indomitable spirit serve as inspiration to us all. Though he may have left this world prematurely, his vision and values will continue to guide us as we strive for a brighter future.”
Billionaire Femi Otedola, in his own tribute, in a post on his X(Twitter) account on Sunday, said Wigwe’s legacies will live forever.
“I’m shocked and saddened to hear of the loss of banking genius, Herbert Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba, and first son, Chizi. Exactly two weeks ago, Herbie and his wife hosted myself and Aliko to dinner at his newly built home in Lagos.I will cherish and fondly remember him over the years. Herbie, we will all miss you.”
Kogi State Governor, Usman Dodo, in his own tribute, described Wigwe as a “transformational businessman” and an “exceptional individual.”
In a statement signed by the Governor’s media aide, Ismaila Isah, he said: “The late Herbert Wigwe was an exceptional individual whose impact transcended the banking industry and his generation.
“He was a humble and hardworking businessman who meant so well for the transformation of Nigeria and I’m deeply saddened by his painful exit.”
The people of his hometown in Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State have declared seven days of mourning in honour of their iconic son. The mourning period was declared by Isiokpo’s Nye-Nwe-Eli, His Royal Majesty, Eze Blessing Ahiazunwo Wagor.
Beginning from Wednesday, all businesses would close totally on the first day and last day, while half-day will be observed on the rest five days. The residents are already donning black attire to reflect their mourning mood.
NewsClick Nigeria commiserates with the Wigwes, the Ogunbanjos and others who tragically lost their lives to this unfortunate incident. May their souls rest in perfect peace!
#RememberingHerbertWigwe
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