Tributes paid to Nigerian financiers Herbert Wigwe and Abimbola Ogubajo after fatal helicopter crash
According to reports, the celebration was traveling to the city for Sunday's NFL Super Bowl game. The goal of the investigation is to identify what caused the accident.
Following their tragic deaths in a California helicopter crash, tributes have been given to former Nigerian stock market chairman Abimbola Ogunbanj and Nigerian banking magnate Herbert Wigwe, founder and group CEO of Access Bank. The Mojave Desert crash on Friday claimed the lives of six individuals, including Wigwe’s son Chizi Wigwe and wife Chizoba Wigwe.
About 96 kilometers from Las Vegas, the chartered chopper crashed when it was flying between Boulder City, Nevada and Palm Springs, California. According to reports, the celebration was traveling to the city for Sunday’s NFL Super Bowl game. The goal of the investigation is to identify what caused the accident.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu led the memorial services for the victims.The news of the passing of Mr. Herbert Wigwe, a renowned banker, humanitarian, and businessman, as well as Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, and the Wigwe family, which includes Herbert’s wife Chizoba and son Chizi, has shocked and deeply distressed me. Their demise is a terrible tragedy that is incomprehensibly shocking, the author stated.
57-year-old Herbert Wigwe established Access Bank in 1989. After acquiring Diamond Bank, its primary rival, in 2018, it rose to become Nigeria’s largest bank.Strong as a banker, he and his longtime business associate Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede provided unwavering determination to the organization.After moving to South Africa and acquiring Grobank, Wigwe was recognized with the esteemed African Banker of the Year award for a second year in a row in 2021.
At the time of his second award, Access Bank had grown to become one of the biggest retail banks in Africa, with over 40 million customers, after a decade of rapid expansion that saw the company expand in Kenya, South Africa, and Botswana.
In 2020, African Business sister magazine New African, which twice honored Wigwe in its annual list of the 100 Most Influentual Africans, interviewed him for a special edition honoring the 60th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence.He discussed his goals of making the bank a major player in Africa.Over the next five years, we want to establish subsidiaries in 22 countries, with strategic objectives to be present in the major trade corridors on the African continent.He projected that by 2023, Access Bank would have about 100 million customers in Nigeria and an additional 20 million customers across all of our African operations, solidifying its position as Africa’s gateway to the global economy.
Among the Nigerian business executives that honored Wigwe was Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank.
“I am deeply saddened by the untimely passing of Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank’s CEO and co-founder, together with his spouse and son. He was a clever and imaginative banker. May God provide solace to your aging parents, kids, the Wigwe family, and the Access Bank employees and administration. You’ll be incrediblystrategic astuteness and commitment
Veteran of the corporate legal and capital market sectors in Nigeria, Abimbola Ogunbanjo held the positions of first group chairman of NGX Group from 2021 to 2022 after the exchange’s demutualization and president of the National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from 2017 to 2021.
His “strategic acumen and dedication were instrumental in shaping NGX Group’s transformative journey,” according to a statement released by the organization.
“The NGX Group, along with his wife and children, laments the premature passing of Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo and Dr. Herbert Wigwe. We will continue to be inspired by Bamofin Ogunbanjo’s legacy, whose leadership has left an enduring impression on both our company and the larger Nigerian financial community. Additionally, Dr. Wigwe leaves a spotless legacy in our private sector. “During this trying time, our thoughts and prayers are with their families,” NGX Group chairman Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga said.
Temi Popoola, group managing director and chief executive of NGX Group, stated, “We are committed to preserving their legacy by upholding the principles of leadership, innovation, and dedication that they exemplified.” “The contributions of these two respected leaders to the financial markets and the overall private sector will be remembered.”
