Herbert Wigwe: A Trailblazer Snatched in the Peak of his Glory
By Zekeri Idakwo
“Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that frets and struts its hour upon the stage. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Williams Shakespeare’s timeless homily above attests to the emptiness of life, the vanity of it and the fact that no matter how much a man works his socks off to climb the ladder of greatness and success, the next minute is never guaranteed.
This is a man who defied odds, left his comfort zone and tried something average people wouldn’t dare. He left a well-paying job to start his own venture in the fulfillment of his own dreams and aspirations. He therefore co-built one of the strongest banking groups in Africa, helping others to fulfill their potential and adding significant value to the Nigerian economy.
This is a man who was said to have recently moved into his dream personal house that reportedly cost billions of naira and now he is not alive to celebrate his one-year anniversary in the magnificent edifice.
Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe, a distinguished Nigerian banker, philanthropist and entrepreneur, passed away on the 9th of February, 2024, after the helicopter he and his family were traveling in crashed near Nipton, California, in the United States. He was 57 years old. Mrs. Wigwe Chizoba, their son, Chizi, the former Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, and two crew members also perished in the crash.
Late Wigwe was born on the 15th of August 1966, in Isiokpo, Rivers State. Wigwe’s father worked at the Nigerian Television Authority, (NTA) while his mother was a nurse. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1987.
Wigwe received a British Council scholarship to study at the University College of North Wales.
In 1991, he earned an MA in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales. Also In 1996, Wigwe earned an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London. He equally attended the Harvard Business School Executive Management Programme.
The late entrepreneur started his career at Coopers and Lybrand as a management consultant in the late 1980s, becoming a chartered accountant in 1989. He later joined Guaranty Trust Bank, where he worked for over a decade and eventually became executive director around 1998.
In 2002, despite some initial pushback from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Wigwe and his business partner Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede purchased Access Bank. The Bank subsequently grew under their leadership to become the 4th largest bank in Nigeria by 2017.
Before becoming CEO of Access Bank in 2014, Wigwe was the company’s Deputy Managing Director from 2002 to 2014. In addition, he served as chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited from 2013 until his death.
From 2014 until his death, Wigwe served as CEO and group managing director of Access Bank. In 2018, Access Bank merged with Diamond Bank, becoming the largest bank in Nigeria. That same year, Wigwe launched the Access Bank Loan Programme, which has since been managed by the Edwin Symonowicz Foundation.
Wigwe had plans to expand Access Bank into Asia in early 2024. He is also building a mouthwatering university in Rivers state which he said would be the biggest in Africa but he passed away before those plans came to fruition.
The former Access bank boss was a visionary leader and a philanthropist who contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria’s economy, the banking industry, education, culture, and society.
Wigwe will be remembered as a trailblazer, a mentor, and a patriot, who left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s banking history.
He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and admirers.
