Had, Says Igwe Umenyiora

tor. Then, he specially singled out the late Ekwueme, who he said, pulled the last strings that saw the issuance of operational licence for FCMB.

“I’m a very appreciative person when you do any good to me. I was happy to give the testimony publicly during Otiti’s 90th birthday and I’m doing the same thing with the late Ekwueme. What I did at that time was unprecedented in this country for an individual to say he wants to singlehandedly establish a bank.

“They wanted you to get a white technical partner. Beyond that, in the history of Nigeria banking industry, I think there was only one person, who started something in the name of a bank by late Chief Okupe. He was only doing money-lending enterprise. There was a statue that allows somebody to be lending, but nothing more,” he stated. Balogun explained that for someone to set up a bank with branches all over the place without a foreign technical partner was not available in the country at the time, but that he got the inspiration to set up FCMB through his nine-year old son.

“We were praying and the young man went to his mother and said, ‘when we were praying, I pity daddy. Why not he go and start his own bank, instead of wanting to be the chief executive of somebody’s bank?’ “When my wife told me, I thought she was becoming faithless that we were praying to God, why not leave things in His hands? Then I told my wife that God was speaking to a nine-year-old boy; the young man is 47 now.

“And I made up my mind that I will do it. Naturally, human beings feel nothing is impossible but with God all is possible. All I was doing was pray, but God will not come personally, he will use other people,” he said.

For Balogun, God directly used Otiti and the late Ekwueme to assist him in doing what many people thought was impossible.

“In the case of Otiti, he was CBN Deputy Governor and someone just said to me, ‘we cannot give you a license because you don’t have a technical partner. I said, ‘God is my partner.’ Having said this, I knew some people in the CBN, something just struck me and I told my driver to take me straight to Otiti’s house.”

As at the time Balogun arrived Otiti’s house, the elder statesman, had gone to the then CBN Governor’s house to break his fast, as they were both Muslims.

“Again, I told my driver to go to the CBN Governor’s house. By the time we got there, I was already getting emotional and was shedding tears. I got to the gate and said, ‘I must see Otiti; I gather he is with the CBN governor.’ Those people, seeing a big man crying, said they must help him. So, Otiti and the CBN governor rushed out and I said, ‘Big brothers, these people want to scuttle my ambition of owning a bank because they said I don’t have a foreign technical partner.’ That I cannot be given a license to run a bank… I also said other emotional things,” he recalled.

At that point, Otiti calmly said to him, “Subomi, don’t worry, the CBN governor and I would arrange something provisionally, which will enable you to run that bank and later on look for a foreign technical partner.”

Having earlier been told by CBN staff that he could not own a bank without foreign partners, Balogun was a bit sceptical about Otiti’s option.

“Otiti was the first person to put my mind at rest, but he and the CBN governor were not giving the license at that time,” he noted.

Determined to see his dreams come true, Balogun resolved to reach to an old friend Ekwueme, who was the Vice President at the time.

“We had been friends before the war and he came back. So, in the Cathedral, my wife and I planned that when Alex is being led out, that I would grab his dress and my wife would grab that of his wife.”

Indeed, that was how he and his wife succeeded in getting the attention of the late former Vice President, but not without encountering his security aides.

“Alex looked back and said, ‘ Subomi, Bimbola, what is happening?’ Do you know what I told him? You will read that in what I’m writing about him soon. I told him, ‘Mr. Vice President, why are you not giving me a license?’

About the same time, Otunba’s wife went to Lady Ekwueme and said, “my husband wants something, only your husband can give him.”

With the mild drama, Ekwueme has no option but to intervene.

“He said we should come to see him and he assured me that the following Thursday, I would get my license. By 3pm of that Thursday, a minister phoned me and he said, ‘ Egbon, congratulations, the Vice President said that your license has been approved.’

“That was how the floodgate of Nigerians owning banks started. When I had my license, people were amazed. Some people even said, ‘if you have a license, you will rather be a multi-millionaire or their father will go to jail, but I am a person who is always grateful to my God and appreciative of whatever you do for me,” he said.

On the late Ekwueme, he said, “My institution will be doing something about the funeral; I’m personally in touch with the family. Just be patient until when we are burying Alex.”

However, Balogun’s relationship with the late Vice President dated back to the civil war era, that forced the Igbo to abandon their properties and fled from Lagos, the then capital city of Nigeria.

“I can tell you that during the war, many of our friends from the east abandoned everything they had and went away. The war was so hot that many people did not think it was right to remain in Lagos. The first house I built in my life was in Apapa, Alex had the next building to mine. As soon as the war started, some pool players took over the house and were playing pool there; they will be there until midnight. But in wanting to protect my own house from being burgled by those people, I arranged for the police to evacuate them and having done that, I renovated the house and rented it out to a lady from the east and I was collecting rent,” he narrated.

When the war ended and Alex Ekwueme returned to Lagos with his family, he went to visit Balogun, whom he had not seen throughout the war period.

“After exchanging pleasantries, I went to my room and brought out a big envelope. In those days, we don’t use cheque much; it was all cash.

So, I gave him the money. I told him I renovated your house, rented it out and this is the rent we collected.

Ekwueme looked at me. A number of our friends from the East lost their houses. In fact, some so-called friends took over their houses and claimed they were given. But for somebody, who was not familiar with him to take care of the house, rented it out and came to hand over the rent collected to him, Alex couldn’t believe it. All he could mutter was, ‘Mike, I am grateful.’ That was how our friendship started,” he narrated.

Impressed with Balogun’s kindness, the late Ekwueme resolved to go into a business partnership with him.

“He said, “with what you have done for me, let us do something to help the returnees from the war zone,” and I said, ‘what can we do?’ He said we should be selling building materials to rebuild the war-torn areas; it is in my book,” he noted.

Both men eventually started a company called the Renaissance Builders Merchant and were dealing on plywood and other building materials.

“Alex’s brother, Lawrence, was the salesman and we were making raw money. Every weekend, we would balance our accounts. After service, I would go with an envelope to Alex with his share of the profit, not knowing that God was going to use him to do something in my life and that of Nigeria.”

The friendship between Ekwueme and Balogun was very close that the first time he (Balogun) visited Oko, the late VP’S hometown, the people gathered to break kolanut to thank him for his kindness.

“I made sure I opened a branch of the bank in his hometown and a property owned by him. It was a Godly relationship between us, as God used Alex for me and also used me for him; it is a lesson for Nigeria,” he said.