From Revered Boardroom Guru to Reviled ING Chairman

From the beloved boardroom guru he was for decades, Shonekan morphed into a despised chairman of Interim National Government decreed into existence by the outgoing military president

You are never there, so the saying goes, when others determine or decide your fate. Chief Ernest Adegunle Shodeinde Shonekan who died at 85 mid-January was in Lagos overseeing the affairs of United Africa Company of Nigeria as chairman and chief executive officer when General Ibrahim Babangida asked him to head the Transition Council in January 1993.

Under pressure from Nigerians to return the country to democratic rule, the military president set up Transitional Council to sort of midwife this process. It was a first call and responsibility that would lead to a bigger and more complicated assignment and, ultimately, alter the destiny of an urbane, British-trained lawyer who began his career with UAC when he was not yet 30.

From the beloved boardroom guru he was for decades, Shonekan morphed into a despised chairman of Interim National Government decreed into existence by the outgoing military president. It took only 82 days for this unenviable transformation to happen to the man with the Midas touch as far as running companies is concerned, a man, along with the likes of Felix Ohiwherei, known for their business acumen and playing by the rules.

Shonekan was still with UAC when he got a scholarship to Harvard and then back to UACN before he got the life-changing call from IBB. Confronted with civil unrest following the annulled June 12 election won by MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, the outgoing military president appointed Shonekan chairman of Interim National Government becoming, in the process, the only head of government in Nigeria who was neither elected through the ballot nor came into office through the bullet.

But once Shonekan became head of a wonky contraption hastily put together by the military, the formerly revered boardroom guru suddenly became a pariah, rejected first of all by his fellow Yoruba who clearly saw him as a usurper, one in cahoots with the military to deprive a fellow Yoruba and Egba, MKO Abiola, his rightful place as the newly elected president after one of the freest and fairest elections in the history of Nigeria. To show their displeasure, the Yoruba came up with a derisive name for ING – Fidihe – a government that is not seated comfortably.

The second and most damaging rejection came from a High Court ruling in Lagos presided over by Justice Dolapo Akinsanya after she declared ING illegal, insisting that the military president who decreed it into existence had no constitutional authority to do so. That was the end of a short-lived government nobody wanted in the first place. Nigeria’s history from then on took a dramatic turn, events happening at such a heady pace and pushing the country ever so close to the precipice inch by frightening inch.

Though he remained a public figure who helped set up Nigeria Economic Summit Group, an economic think-tank post-ING, the Abese of Egba land never fully enjoyed the full accolades due a titled chief from his Yoruba brothers and sisters. It has been said that, after a while, he stopped visiting his country home in Abeokuta because fewer and fewer people were coming to pay him courtesy call – a titled man unacknowledged by his own subjects right in his domain. It can be vexing.

But did the rejection diminish his status as a statesman and patriot in any way? Certainly not.

In a moving tribute following his demise, The Guardian editorialized thusly: “Even if Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan had not been drawn directly into the murky and tricky cauldron of national politics, he would still stand as an important figure in the history of Nigeria. He was, for more than a decade, the chairman and chief executive of the UAC conglomerate, a business with interests in a wide range of sectors, and which worth as a group rivalled the annual budget of some African countries. Anyone who could sit atop the huge and complex UAC in the dual capacities of chairman of the board of directors and chief executive was reasonably good to run Nigeria. All things considered, Shonekan exhibited the mark of a patriot.”

Shonekan was born on May 9 1936 in Lagos but of parents from Abeokuta, Ogun state. There were five siblings. As soon as he could, and like some kids his age at the time, he went to the popular CMS Grammar School, Lagos, and then Igbobi College also in Lagos. It was just as well that he began his career at UAC where he rose through the ranks and then went for a scholarship at the University of London where he studied law and was called to the bar there.

Management staff of reputable companies worth their Drucker know that a degree or two from Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford or Yale burnishes your CV. Shonekan did after which he repaired to UACN where sometime later he held a dual position of chairman of the board of directors as well as CEO. It was a first and also unique, a point emphasized in The Guardian editorial.

“As head of the UAC, a company founded in 1929, Shonekan was the private sector’s most important voice on the state of the Nigerian economy. His opinion, nay, pronouncement, on a federal budget made a huge difference between the well informed on such matters and the ordinary man on the street. So influential was Shonekan that when he spoke on matters of the country’s economy, many believed that the UK (that largely owned the UAC) had spoken. Considering his staying power as head of the company, he was a boardroom guru who while in charge – and this is to his eternal credit – also held UAC to its core values and avowed code of business conduct.”

Continuing, the editorial surmised that because of his “background of certain management style and values that worked perfectly for the private sector world, Shonekan patriotically took the job bringing what he knew to a Nigerian government system diametrically opposed in values and in practice to what he thought should apply. He applied himself diligently to the task at hand, and with eyes set upon financial prudence, sought debt cancellation from foreign creditors to relieve the national economy, began the process to audit the opaque operations of the huge, intolerably inefficient Federal Government owned oil company NNPC, and set a timetable to withdraw Nigerian troops from the ECOMOG for reasons that obviously include its corruptionridden drain on the country’s purse.”

Why did IBB zero in on Shonekan and not another Nigerian to head ING? Speculations are rife but one reason seems to hold true: After depriving MKO Abiola of his June 12 mandate, find another Yoruba man to head ING, however briefly it may last. Translation? If the Yoruba are embittered that their man has been denied, here is another to take his place – though not permanently.

Till date, a section of Nigerians still feel Shonekan should have turned the offer down. After all, he wasn’t in the unemployment queue at the time. Besides, as a fellow Egba, he ought to have had some consideration for his townsman and reservation about the Greek offer from the military.

It is on record that some senior citizens in Egba tried to persuade him from accepting IBB’s offer. He refused their request, insisting that the political upheaval at the time was more important than sectional interests. Commenting on that in a tribute by Kola King for an online publication, Eurasia Review on January 24, he praised the deceased businessman for his patriotism.

“What stood Chief Shonekan out was his patriotism,” King wrote. “He put the national interest well above his personal and group interest by resisting pressure from his fellow Yoruba to reject the ING appointment. Nigerians may recall that his fellow Egba kinsmen led by four traditional rulers and top retired military officers of Egba extraction had openly pressured Shonekan not to accept a position of which another Egba had just been robbed.”

Continuing, King believes Shonekan “saw beyond all that and accepted to lead a nation at one of its darkest moments. By accepting the ING position, he showed that he was a patriot who meant well for the entire country. Indeed, the story of Nigeria as one indivisible nation will be told by the courage and sacrifice of only a handful of Nigerians who stepped up where none dared. Chief Shonekan was one of such Nigerians, and for that alone, present and future generations of Nigerians owe a debt of gratitude that only his Creator can repay.”

"After his ouster from power, Shonekan carried himself with utmost dignity and avoided the cult of personality beloved by many a Nigerian leader in office or out of it, even as he was ostracized by his immediate community in the South West. He would be remembered as a man who played a stabilizing role at that tumultuous period in the nation’s history, a man who opted for national peace and unity to preserve an endangered nation.”

Also filled with praises for Shonekan are the Old Boys from CMS Grammar School. During a visit to his widow, Margret Shonekan at her residence, they admitted that “Papa remained a vibrant member of his set and the OGS till death,” said Olu Vincent, an old boy of CMS Grammar School aka as Old Grammarians. “He was a proud grammarian who never missed an opportunity to be among the Old Boys. From his days in the school, he showed exceptional brilliance and leadership qualities. That he is one Old Boy we are very proud of is a fact and we will miss his presence, support and counsel dearly.”