Sisters in Tandem

Cont’d from pg.. 61

Opeyemi, that introduced Toke to Chief. Opeyemi was then working in a bank where she was the accounts manager to Festus Fadeyi. She it was who made strategic linking between her sister and wealthy customer. Luck smiled on Toke as Fadeyi immediately got smitten with the cupid arrow. He did not only fall in love with her but started building his world and joy around Toke.

Trust Toke, sensing the septuagenarian had lost control of his emotions; she took full control of the relationship and allegedly made a huge fortune from the deeply besotted man. There was hardly anything money can buy that was not bought for Toke. Toke had to leave him and moved after their friendship was leaked and generated furore in the public and more in Fadeyi family.

Reports say Toke is now very close to another oil mogul, named Aliyu Abubakar, who owns AA Oil. How she linked up with him is still shrouded in secrecy, but it might not be unconnected with Opeyemi who has since moved to FCMB, where she manages top accounts like those Folorunso Alakija and other moguls.

The Kogi State-born Aliyu has been extremely generous to Toke, as he has been spoiling her with luxuries; and Toke has been living it all. She has since graduated from hedonistic display of designers wears, bags and jewelleries to owning a mansion in Ikoyi, on Bank Road to be precise. She has chosen to be daring and she makes no pretence about her game.

With her much-vaunted marriage crashing like a pack of badly arranged card trailed with bitterness, Toke turned it around and made a fortune of the matrimonial misadventure. Her ‘On Becoming’ book became an instant success as she cleaned out nicely from the publishing deal and other lucrative deals precipitated by the revelations in the book. There is no gainsaying the fact that Toke has been living up to her “Small Girl With Big God” aphorism.

Segun Oloketuyi, the former MD of WEMA bank, has become like the languid breeze blowing listlessly across withering meadows. But Segun is no breeze; he is actually a retired banker. Back when he was a hunk and A-list banker, he attracted the loyalty and love of colleagues and friends as the pollen nectar attracts butterflies to sup from its sweetness.

Then Segun morphed into a haughty hunk of sorts, presenting a perfect portrait of the power-drunk and currency-activated banker who brooked no opposition to his views and was ruthless towards perceived enemies or opposition. Now that he has retired, no more is he the cocky character who strutted the corridors of WEMA Bank in its boom years and no more does he walk about with gargantuan chips on his shoulders as he has relocated his children to Canada.

Segun pursued and acquired money in markedly different tradition from the ways of his peers. While too many of his peers gained from their wealth only the fear of losing it, he gained from his wealth, comfort, contentment and a deep sense of purpose. The former bank MD understood quite early in life, that there are no little ways to imbue his life with grandeur. He understood that money matters in the mix, in his pursuit of ease and luxury. Thus he pursued money as the only sunbeams that lights his path to grandeur.

While he served as MD, he worked very hard and saved very hard.

Today, he is reaping the fruits of his labour. Indeed, Segun is one very sharp dude who planned his retirement very well. Findings revealed that he is most likely the richest retired bank chief in the country, considering his extensive fortune and business interests. Besides being intimidatingly solvent, he lives a charmed life. No sooner had he retired from WEMA Bank than he relocated. He also helped a lot of Nigerian magnates to make a lot of money. For instance, it was during his tenure as MD that the bank lent out money to the highest number of people. It was also during his tenure that the bank suffered the highest number of non-performing loans. Thus many businessmen made their fortune via Oloketuyi’s very accommodating loan schemes. Little wonder the new MD of the bank, Ademola Adebise is in a bind over the huge debt portfolio. The issue of huge debt portfolio and cumbersome debt recovery process had always bedeviled Wema like an albatross even during the tenure of the bank’s Oloketuyi, but the situation has worsened over the years and according to sources within the bank, Adebise never understood the extent of the rot until he assumed office some months ago. So we heard!