Herbert Wigwe Was A Bright Star That Lit His Chosen Path. The Bank He Co-founded Continues To Access His Legacy
The Oasis Reporters
August 15, 2024
As we honor the memory of Herbert Wigwe on a day like this that would have been his birthday, I’d like to tell a little bit of a story on how I came in contact with Access Bank.
When the bank first opened it’s doors in the early 90s, I was one of the few persons that put a foot in the door. I had always desired to build a career in the financial sector without necessarily being a banker.
They were at Apapa in Lagos. Just a one branch bank. One thing I quickly noticed were it’s Ilesha roots.
Dr Lawrence Omole, now late, was the inaugural chairman. Dr Omole was renowned as a business mogul with interests in many areas of commerce and manufacturing.
He was from Ilesha.
He was succeeded by James Oladipo Farodoye, another Ijeshaman.
Chief James Oladipo Farodoye is an accountant by profession, and a former General Manager, Finance and Administration of the then National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria, NICON.
My interest in the bank was in it’s Corporate Promotions department, a place where great minds like Attah Claver-Obinna was as Manager, Ayo Siyanbola, Jide Sadare etc. The bank’s simple logo was Balmoral Blue in colour.
Not too long after, the bank moved it’s head office to Broad Street (Nigeria’s own Wall Street).
Problem was, all it’s branches (which were few by the way) where mainly in Lagos. So when I took a cheque from them to my base in Kano, the manager in my bank hadn’t even heard of the bank. I remember his comments on that day. Those were the days when upcountry cheques would take 21 working days to clear. Throw in the weekends and public holidays, a cheque could take one month before a depositor could access his money.
Well, the bank was doing reasonably well, until the Nigerian factor reared it’s ugly head, and the center could no longer hold. It was that bad. Things were so stressful, that the leadership of the bank had only one option left: Sell and get out of the place.
Therefore twenty two years ago, in March (2002), when two young Nigerian bankers – Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe walked in, they eventually bought the bank and turned it into one of the biggest lenders in the country with subsidiaries across Africa, Europe and Asia.
It was on March 22, 2002, that the two, both aged 37, walked into Plot 1669 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos (the bank had moved by then from Broad Street), which was then the corporate headquarters of the bank, “to assume duty and full control as the managing director and deputy managing director. The acquisition process had taken about two years and entailed rigorous negotiations, sleepless hours of paperwork and long meetings”.
Etim Etim, a former staff of the bank describes it as “one of the most audacious takeovers in the history of the nation’s financial industry”.
“The phenomenal growth of Access Bank in the last two decades has become a very inspiring success story. Aig-Imoukhuede has since written a book on the transaction, and I will like to, once again, recommend it to our young entrepreneurs for the useful lessons therein”.
“Soon after the takeover, the bank embarked on a five-year transformation agenda, and two years into the plan, the CBN announced the N25 billion capitalisation deadline set for end of December 2005. The bank’s management went to work, and as Aig-Imoukhuede writes in his book ‘Leaving the Tarmac’: “Not only were we in a position to raise the money we needed, we had also been given permission to look at possible mergers and acquisitions”.
The bank mobilized its workforce and quickly raised N15 billion in a public offer, acquired two other small banks, Capital and Marina, and convinced FMO, the Netherland development finance company, to become an institutional investor through the conversion of a $15 million term loan it earlier gave to the bank. With the N25 billion capitalisation met, the race to the top became a matter of compulsion to the new owners. They then embarked on an aggressive drive to raise money both from local and foreign capital markets”.
The former small, nondescript Bank is now an international bank with a very large footprint all over Africa.
Hear Julius Malema, a South African politician and (Commander in Chief of Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF] ), “and a Revolutionary activist for radical change in Africa” speak in awe of Nigerian banks.
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Listen to South Africa's @Julius_S_Malema and learn about WHO and WHAT Nigerians are! In terms of speaking truth to power and courage he reminds me of @MaziNnamdiKanu and @realffk. The future of Africa belongs to US! Whether the system likes it or not WE shall rise! HEAR HIM… pic.twitter.com/IUwDwUZWyZ
— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) September 15, 2019
It was in January 2014 that Herbert Wigwe assumed duty as the group managing director and chief executive after the retirement of Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede late 2013. The change in the executive suite was smooth and rancor-free.
“With enormous goodwill and attractive brand equity, the bank continues to outpace its contemporaries”.
Then the sad event of the death of Herbert Wigwe, his wife and son occurred in a helicopter crash.
We remember his legacy. And Access Bank honors his memory:
“Today, we honor the memory of a visionary leader, our beloved Group CEO, Herbert O. Wigwe, on what would have been his birthday.
Herbert was more than a leader; he was a guide who illuminated our path with wisdom, and a soul who inspired us to reach beyond the ordinary.
Though he may no longer be with us in person, his legacy lives on in the values he instilled, the dreams he nurtured, and the lives he touched.
We celebrate not just his life, but the enduring impact he had on all of us.
Rest in peace, Herbert. You will always be remembered, cherished, and loved”.
By Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com .
Additional notes by Etim Etim.
