DR. IKE CHIOKE
I spoke to Herbert last on the evening of Sunday, 14 January 2024. I had driven up to his house in Ikoyi for our scheduled catchup meeting, and the gatemen informed me that he was not home. I called him, and he apologized, saying he was just leaving Port Harcourt and that he would call me once he landed in Lagos. Alas, he never did, and the catchup meeting never held.
I saw him last at Access Bank HQ in Oniru on Thursday 2nd November, 2023, at the symposium he organized to launch the art book written by Agbogidi – HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe CFR, the Obi of Onitsha.
And yet, for someone I saw so infrequently, I considered Herbert a close and dear friend. Just three days ago on Thursday 8th February 2024, my iPhone pulled up a beautiful memory of my family and I having lunch on the deck of his yacht, Chitochi, in Bal Harbor, Florida on 29th July, 2021. And I remembered my generous friend that morning and wondered where in the world he was. Yes – that is the kind of person Herbert was. He had loaned us his yacht for our vacation.
A man of incredible intelligence, energy, enterprise, passion, focus, and determination. And God crowned his massive toil on earth with incredible success. Yet, despite his wealth and influence, he was incredibly humane, humble, considerate, and kind. As I grieve the loss of a very dear friend, I know that I am joined in grief by millions of people Herbert has impacted directly or indirectly all over Nigeria and the world.
I am beyond grief and near inconsolable at the monumental loss of Herbert, his wife Chizoba, his son Chizi, as well as our mutual friend Abimbola Ogunbanjo. I cannot even begin to imagine how his parents, four orphaned children, close friends and business associates like Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Tunde Folawiyo, etc, are feeling. Talk less of the grief my dear friend Roosevelt Ogbonna is carrying on behalf of the entire Access Holdings family.
May our Lord, Jesus Christ, give us all the strength and fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. And may Almighty God receive their gentle souls in paradise and grant them eternal rest.
Amen!
#RememberingHerbertWigwe #AbimbolaOgunbanjo #RIP