The late Herbert Wigwe, CEO, Access Holdings

 Abubakar Hashim

The late Herbert Wigwe, 57, was the CEO of Access Holdings, the parent company of Access Bank. He died, with his wife, Chizoba, son, Chizzy and a top banker, Bimbo Ogunbanjo, in a helicopter crash in California, exactly one year today on February 9 2024.

The chartered helicopter departed Palm Springs at 8.45 pm, en route to Boulder City, Halloran Springs, California at 10.08 pm.

All six people on board, the pilot in command, a safety pilot and four passengers were killed.

Halloran Springs is about 80 miles south of Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl between San Francisco and Kansas City was to be held. Late Wigwe and entourage were heading to watch the Super Bowl.

His death, one year today, is a huge blow to Nigeria and indeed Africa’s banking industry. Wigwe had a big vision of transforming Africa’s corporate landscape, even in Europe and the United States.

In West Africa, his impact is tremendous. A few months before his death, he successfully acquired Sierra Leone’s Standard Chartered Bank. Today, the bank is fully licensed and operates as Access Bank SL Limited. Ditto other West African countries.

In East and South Africa, Access Bank is waxing stronger with full-scale banking facilities.

In Paris, the bank is fully operational, and it is in the process of opening a full branch in the US, following the UBA step.

The late banker recently established Wigwe University to equip African youths with skills to compete in a complex and fast-changing world. The university is a world-class set-up and is located 15 15-minute drive from the Port Harcourt International Airport.

One easily striking feature of late Wigwe is his warm simplicity. He was always the first to greet you even before you spot him.

I recall, with nostalgia, the day we met at the Nigerian Embassy when he came to Freetown, with a retinue of entourage. In my capacity as the Secretary General of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, we met to discuss modalities of acquisition of a property at Gloucester Street, opposite the Central Bank of Sierra Leone. The meeting was successful. Today, Access Bank has acquired, on lease, the structure, and modernise it into a glass house, that is headquartered in the bank, Brussels Airlines and other corporate blue chip companies.

Wigwe had left an indelible legacy in the African, European and even the US corporate world.

He will be remembered today, for his massive investments in Africa, Europe and the US, his simplicity and ability to train and inspire the youths of Africa, to become wealth creators and employers of labour and not dependants on government jobs and handouts

*Abubakar Hashim is the West Africa Bureau Chief (based in Sierra Leone) of TheNEWS magazine, published in Nigeria .