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Of His Death
The sudden death of Africa’s foremost young banker and top businessman Dr. Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe on 9th of February 2024, in an Europter EC130 helicopter operated by Orbit Air, that crashed in Nipton Town California United States of America while heading to Palm Springs International Airport to Boulder City, Nevada has rocked the business community across the world. He died alongside his beloved wife Mrs. Doreen Wigwe, son Chizi Wigwe and four others including the former Group Chairman of Nigerian Stock Exchange -NSE Abimbola Ogunbanjo and two co-pilots of the ill-fated Helicopter that crashed at the border between states of California and Neveda. The University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu state graduate and Harvard University trained Finance guru, Late Wigwe will surely be missed as he and his friend Aigboje Aig-Imoukhede founded Access Bank in 2002 with him alone acquiring 9 percent shareholding of the bank worth Fifty-Four Million United States of America Dollars ($54m) which made him the highest shareholder of Access bank as Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Access Holding Plc a company that had three acquisitions of Banks across two countries. In 2019 he moved in to acquire Diamond bank at the cost of $239m. The investor never rested as he kept moving with much dexterity in the financial market pushing further into other African financial business with expansion projects in banks and other Corporations thereby absorbing banks in Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique and others.
As the world stood still in the first quarter of 2023 Access Bank Holding Plc reported a 52 percent in profits thus in January 2024 the bank crossed One Trillion Naira market capitalization mark on the Nigerian Stock exchange for the first time. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of the bank from 2014 to date. In January 2024 Access Holding Plc completed acquisition of Insurance Brokerage form known as Megatech Insurance Brokerage Ltd. This made the outfit announce receipt of regulatory approval for it to set up a consumer lending subsidiary named Oxygen X Finance Company Limited.
Born in 1966 late Herbert O. Wigwe was a career man who rose to become General Manager of Nigerian Television Authority NTA from he retired. And at the time Herbert and his friend Aigboje bought over Access Bank they were in their 30s of age with years of working experiences in Guaranty Trust bank both as Senior Management Bankers in their time. While in GTB late Wigwe emerged as executive Director in charge of Institution Banking before he was made a Management Consultant for Coopers and Lybrand, thus looking forward to his earning a Chartered Accountant qualification to his credit.
In his native town of Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, he is being mourned by the people he helped in his lifetime as he at every end of year provided truck load of rice and other foodstuffs and shared to every family irrespective of their social status and political or religious orientation and leaning. Thus, there has been declaration of 8-days mourning period in Isiokpo town with businesses closed down for the first and last day only with Wednesday 14th of February being the beginning to end on Wednesday, 21st of February 2024 where they will march round the environment in black attire as a symbol of paying their last respect to a hero, a son who established WIGWE University in his home town which he briefed them will begin operation in September 2024 as one of the best universities in Africa modelled alongside Harvard University United States of America.
The Rivers State Governor Sir Siminialayi Fubara has made assurances to the family on his commitment to the fulfilment of the dreams of late Dr. Herbert O. Wigwe in establishing Wigwe University which was originally billed to commence admission of undergraduates in September 2024. Already a road project which was initiated while Wigwe was alive and now completed has been named after Herbert Wigwe in honour of his commitment to development of Rivers State. The family few years ago lost the senior brother in a road accident while returning to Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area Rivers State.
-Emeka Amaefula
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