They were a rich lesson
The man was on a mission
He courted God and man
He helped build and fund churches. He helped build schools in Makoko and other poor neighbourhoods across the country including Kano. He adopted thousands of poor kids and shouldered the burden of their education
He was bold and tactful. Fearless was only a slogan
His elder sister corrected an impression
He didn’t start off brilliant at school
His father was on him
At university, he got his bearings right and started pushing for excellence
From the beginning he knew what he wanted to be
At Capital bank, he resigned because he didn’t want to be part of a mess
At the GTB, he courted oil executives and pulled a stunt
It took clubbing and dinning. He was intentional.
GTB pulled in the account of a major oil producing firm and Herbert received accolades for the exceptional feat
As he rose, he retained old friendships and cilvtivated new ones
Including a friendship with God. At the city of David, he showed committment in body, soul and spirit
He wasn’t satisfied being an executive director in the most polished and lucrative bank in the country by the year 2000.
He wanted to pull in resources and direct them to areas were society could be best impacted
So he had to own a bank
Contrary to widespread insinuation, none of the takeovers was malicious
He followed the rules, the legacy owners got their due rewards
ACCESS was small but principled and ambitious
At the outset
They played the corporate game like GTB
They didn’t do indiscriminate things like other small banks in 2002-2006
But they weren’t as aloof as GTB and a few others to retail banking
When Lamido Sanusi came, the hammer didn’t fall on them
So when some big banks flopped, they saw space to occupy
Most remarkable was Sanusi’s testimony
He used to visit her Herbert’s sister at home when he was a middle level officer at the UBA
But he attitude towards Herbert was professional respect for a high flying young man
Herbert would later become his confidant
When the Emir of Kano was dethroned, it was Herbert he ran to
Herbert sent a jet to Kano to collect his wives and children and property
Herbert received them in Lagos and put them in a hotel
Herbert gave them cars, cash and security
Then Herbert arranged a house and moved them in
Then Herbert told the Emir,
“Whatever you want, my HRH, wherever you want to travel to in the world, just tell my special assistant and consider it done.”
The Emir said he instuted a Trust for his children’s education
He had feared that if he died his children might suffer
He appointed the person he trusted the most to be the protector of the Trust
That person was Herbert, an Igbo man from Rivers
The tributes were revealing
Herbert father was a soldier in the Nigerian Army. At the break of the war, he fought for Biafra. After the war, he resigned from the Nigerian army, just like my late father in law.
At the highest levels in private life, the Nigerians in general don’t do tribalism. The Nigeria elite are a tribe on their own.
The tributes were eye opening
The City of David was conspicuously missing. That was another lesson. For the role Herbert played in church, the pastor of the city of David should have been at the center of the funeral. But the pastor and his wife betrayed the church.
Herbert had a mission to become a father of many nations
He adopted thousands of children
Osinbajo’s tribute was startling
They had been friend for many years, Yemi Osinbajo and Herbert Wigwe
When prof became VP, Herbert never went to him for help
Yet he called the VP often to inquire about his well being
When the VP was about leaving office, Herbert called him seeking to meet with him
The VP thought Herbert finally needed something
Herbert came to ask the VP what he planned to do after leaving office and how he, Herbert, could help him settle into private life again.
Amazing ‼️
At that meeting, Herbert took notes and followed Osinbajo up with more meetings.
So having helped Emir Sanusi settle, he wanted to help Osinbajo bear his burden.
Herbert was as compassionate as he was strategic in building and nurturing friendships
Dangote was his mentor. Aliko looked ghostly and sat out all the programmes in Lagos. But the usually taciturn Aliko Dangote also said the Herbert helped him navigate troubled waters in his business. At some point, the phelgmatic Aliko, crumpled and wept
So for Herbert coming to the aid or rescue of his friends was a better mission than frolicking with them
The real defintion of a true friend.
A friend in need.
Then can a son of the soil be truer?
He sought to build a Harvard University in West Africa
He took it to his village ‼️
Rest in Peace Herbert, Chizoba and Chizzy Wigwe
