Teary Emir Sanusi: I thought I would die before Wigwe
The Night of Tributes for the late Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, continued in Lagos yesterday, with the leader of the Tijjaniyya movement and 14th Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, captains of industry and political bigwigs paying tributes to the deceased.
Emir Sanusi broke down thrice while paying tribute to Herbert Wigwe. Each time he broke down, Abia State Governor Alex Otti, Aig-Imoukhuede and an aide comforted him. The aide had to spread his babanriga to shield his teary face from the audience. Recall that Herbert Wigwe died in a helicopter crash, along with his wife, Doreen, son, Chizzy and former Managing Director of Nigerian Exchange Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, in the US.
Aside from Emir Sanusi, other personalities, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, also paid tributes to the deceased. Also in attendance were Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President Dangote Group, Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede, Chairman Coronation Group, Henry Imasekha, Chairman/CEO – Berkeley Group Plc, among other dignitaries. Speaking on the occasion, teary Sanusi said that due to Herbert’s kind gestures towards him and his family, some people believed he owned Access Bank, while Aig- Imoukhuede, and Herbert were fronting for him.
He said: “It was on a Saturday, I had no idea about what happened. I came to the airport waiting for a plane and I got a call from Bola Adeshola, and we were chatting. After two sentences, he said, Lamido you haven’t heard? “About two years ago, I put all my savings into a Trust for the education of my children, I have many and my priority as a father is to make sure that when I pass away, they will have good education. I told Herbert ‘I am placing you in charge of this Trust for the education of my children because I know that even if I die and did not leave any money, you will educate my children. “I thought I would die before Herbert.”
After that, he burst into tears. “When I had problems in Kano, I called him about six months before I was to leave Kano, and I said to him, ‘Herbert I know you will give all your best to solve all these problems, but I am convinced that this is what is going to happen.’ And he said to me ‘your highness, don’t worry, whatever happens, don’t worry we are here for you.’
“On the day I heard on the radio that I was dethroned, the night before it happened, I called and said I want to come to Lagos. The announcement was made at about 9am, by noon, Herbert had a plane at the tarmac in Kano. I put my family on that plane, no message, no phone call, I put them on that plane. Herbert received them, put them in a hotel, and later got them accommodation for months.
When I came we stayed there. “Some people believe I own access bank and Aig and Herbert are fronting for me. They gave me the cars and the drivers, they gave me security and a private jet and they ask for nothing and they don’t talk about it. I have lived in Lagos for four years, the house my family lives in was provided by Herbert.
“When I heard of his death, I said ‘in the coming weeks and months, people will get to know Herbert the human being’. They know him as a banker, as a business man, they don’t know him as a human being. He was always about others, not about himself. You can’t imagine how one human being could have been so many things to so many people.
“On the day before this happened, I was on a chat group when somebody made a few remarks about Herbert that I found offensive and I defended Herbert. I made my point very clear that this was totally unacceptable.
“A few days after Herbert died; a friend called me and sent me a message. He has sent a message to Herbert at about 3:20 am that morning (day of the crash), telling him how I had stood up and defended him and forwarded my entire message to him. ‘’Herbert replied at 3:28 am with one word ‘unbelievable’. He sent another message at 3:50 which was not delivered. From the presentation from the air traffic controllers, the crash happened at 3:30. So possibly, the last thing Herbert read was my message talking about him.
Vice President, Kashim Shettima
Addressing a crowd of mourners on the occasion, the Vice President said: “Herbert left us in winter before the season of bloom. Spring was just about to arrive at his last location, the United States when the Lord called for him. “Spring is not the symbol of Herbert’s bloom; his journey was defined by peculiar seasons. He bloomed long before his co-travellers.
“This spring, for us, isn’t the season of festive flowers; it’s the season of wreaths. This spring, for us, isn’t a season of tears; it’s a celebration of Herbert’s flight to a height that only a few of God’s chosen ones have attained.”
Delivering his speech, titled, “Herbert Wigwe: The Flower That Bloomed Before Spring,” the VP highlighted Wigwe’s early successes, his dream of building the “Harvard of Africa,” and his commitment to leaving a lasting legacy. “Herbert, though an early bloomer in the garden of life, didn’t share the fate of those who faded away prematurely.
His narrative was one of triumph. He conquered all there was to conquer,” he said. He also regretted the tragic loss of Wigwe’s wife, son, and others, describing the loss as a collective grief felt by many and a “fading fragrance of a garden that touched lives far beyond its borders”. He, however, urged Nigerians to celebrate “the divine miracle that was the lives the deceased lived,” adding that “the spread of this grief that binds us is so because they cultivated a garden of success.”
Shettima continued: “Their achievements were not just individual triumphs but testaments to the collective strength of those they touched, those they built, and those they inspired. “The journey of our departed brothers and sisters may have ended in a distant land, but their spirits linger in the hearts of everyone here and beyond,” the Vice President added.
“May Herbert’s legacy continue to bloom in the hearts and minds of those who strive for greatness.” Speaking, Shettima said : “ Herbert left us in winter, far away from home. Herbert, the season of bloom. Spring has just arrived at his last location in the United States, when the Lord called for him. But spring is not a symbol of Herbert’s bloom. His spring for us isn’t the spring of passive flowers. It is the season of raves. This spring for us isn’t a season of tears. It is a celebration of Herbert’s flight. To a height that only a few of God’s children once have attained.
“I feel privileged to be here today to share in the memories of Herbert and the pillars of his journey was defined by peculiar seasons. He bloomed long before his co-travelers. So this home that left with him. Today, we honor not just the soul that boarded that fateful helicopter, but the indomitable dreamers and builders that soared to heights reserved for the chosen few. Your excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, may Herbert’s legacy continue to bloom in the hearts and minds of those who strive for greatness. On behalf of my principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Access family, the banking world, the Nigerian nation, please accept our most heartfelt condolences. May his soul rest in peace, Amen.”
Henry Imasekha, Chairman/CEO – Berkeley Group Plc
Paying his tributes, Imasekha said: “Herbert was, indeed, very close to me, I have known Herbert for over 36 years, in fact I was his lecturer, let me explain, I am a Chartered accountant by training but I spent most of my professional life in banking, working at International Merchant Bank, I use to give lecturers to would be accountants who wanted to take the exams of ICAN, Herbert was one of them, they all came from firms like KPMG, Coopers, among others.
“I want to talk about Herbert’s determination, focus, and energy and to do this, I will just use two personal examples, one has to do with Chizi, his son, myself, and Herbert. The other has to do with Herbert, Aliko Dangote and myself.
’Now, Aliko Dangote, I recall my experience with Herbert and Dangote, Herbert was a young Deputy Manager at GTBank and I was the MD of a small merchant bank on Awolowo road. During dinner one of those days in my house, I mentioned to Herbert that Dangote had given us N100 million deposits, which was a large amount then, the capital of the bank was N6 million for merchant banks, I can’t remember, maybe it was N20 million for commercial banks.N100 million was a lot of money. The next week, Herbert showed up in my office and said please I want to meet Dangote, I want to take his account to GTBank. I said, Herbert, only last week I just told you this, he said yes. I know that I will not rest unless I took Herbert there, so I put Herbert in my car we drove to Apapa which was the head office of Dangote Group at the time.
“I introduced him as my younger brother from GTBank, who for him to get promotion needs a big account; I would like you to please open an account with him. Herbert made Dangote write a cheque for the deposit, Herbert ran out, went to the car instead of bringing one account opening form, he brought three account opening forms. He said that he has done some research and he has found that actually Alhaji has three different large companies. He wants all the three of them to open an account with him immediately. So, that was how Alhaji became a customer of GTB but that’s not all two or three months later, I went to Alhaji’s house to take breakfast with him, Who did I meet there? Herbert breaking fast with Dangote. Three months Herbert was breaking fast with Alhaji Dangote. He brought heavy weights because he didn’t want me to outshine him. Only three months into this show, they are now on the high table.”
Franck Riester – Representative for French Government
On his part,, representative for French government, Franck Riester said : “ To a dear friend and a great man. Due to previous commitments, the president was not able to attend personally, but he wanted to be here in Lagos with all of you to honor Herbert Wigwes’ memory and to honor Herbert Wigwes because he was a true friend of his. One of the finest men beings I have had the privilege to meet.
‘’It was with the greatest sorrow and emotion that we learned the terrible news of his sudden demise in a tragic accident three weeks ago. ‘’I would like to start by presenting my sincere condolences to his family, partners, teams, and friends. I share their pain and grief for the loss of this truly exceptional man. My thoughts are with his loved ones. His demise is a huge loss for all of us.
“To conclude, allow me to say that even though I would have preferred to return to Lagos under different circumstances, I am still very happy to be here. I am honored to pay tribute to this extraordinary man, his wife, his son, and the people who traveled on the plane. And to share precious memories with all of you in the name of the French Republic President Emmanuel Macron.
Kayode Ayeni , Chairman Zillenium Limited
In his tribute, Ayeni said : “ This is a farewell to my childhood friend. I call him RBD. I’m told that on the day the news of your passing broke, I was in shock and disbelief, all I kept saying over and over was, this is an unfathomable loss. Your transition, my friend and brother, is truly and indeed unfathomable.
‘’We met as innocent kids, both only 10 years old. In our first year in Federal government College in Sokoto. Carefree and free-spirited, we rode on the wings of adolescence into our teenage years. “ We parted at some point, but stayed connected. Our parents both worked in broadcasting, your dad in NCA, mine in FRCN. We lived literally down the road with each other, in Victoria Island, you Herbert and I in Ikoyi. We dreamed of becoming accountants. You chose Nsukka and I chose Ife, still we stayed connected. Post graduation and National Youth Service you started your working life in and I started in Arthur Anderson. Two parallel but similar paths.
“I draw solace and courage to carry on from these words, and I celebrate the life that you lived, Herbert. Farewell to you, my childhood friend. And brother. Herbert. Sunrio. Chizoba. Sunrio. Chizi. Sunrio. Till we meet on the other side of the rainbow. Thank you for listening.”
Olushola Faleye, Personal aide to Wigwe
Olaleye, said in his tribute : ‘’Five of us embarked on that journey, I remember Mr. Bimbo chatted me and said he wants to come with us, it was a Tuesday and I told him, my boss’ journey is not always straightforward. Sometimes you can get in the air and divert to somewhere else and he said he was going to wait. ‘’I still tried to let him understand that we would be in London Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. He said he will stay in his house and wait. I really don’t know why I was trying to convince him, I don’t know.
‘’It was a sweet journey, eleven hours. We flew from London to Palm Springs. I remember in the middle of the air. I walked up to him and said sir, how comfortable are you flying chopper at night? ‘’I’ve never done it before. And he said a word. He said this is America. They have navigation system for flying chopper at night. And I went back to my seat. ‘’We landed; everybody was filled with joy, they were finally almost there. We waited to be cleared by immigration and we came out, so coming out, we had two vans waiting. ‘’One was to take us to board the chopper, the other was to take our luggage because they cannot go on the chopper. Like I said, I always reason in the line of duty, so I walked up to him and said I think it’s safer and more secured to ride and bring the luggage to you. He said brilliant idea and I said safe flight.’’