Don’t Let Wigwe’s Legacies Die, China Appeals To Partners, Bank

Deaths of some legends can be turned to gains, so declared an investor and entrepreneurial icon, the Mayor of Housing.
This is as the financial icon, Dr Herbert Wigwe, is not dead yet, except his vision and projects are allowed to die, according to the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China.
China was reacting to the spreading shock of the death of the CEO of Access Holdings Plc, Dr Herbert Wigwe, along with his wife, Chizoba Doreen and son, Chizi, in a chopper crash in the US aroind 10:30pm on Friday night, February 9, 2024.
The deaths and those of three other occupants of the helicopter have been confirmed by US aviation authorities and Access Holdings Plc in Nigeria.
Wigwe was a honed accountant, who began his career in the highly tested and trusted Coopers & Lybrand Associates, a global company of Chartered Accountants, from where he joined the Guaranty Trust Bank, and worked for over a decade before joining Access Bank Plc.
He forged a close association and partnership with Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and some other top brains to acquire the bank, and has since transformed the financial institution to an international financial powerhouse.
The Mayor of Housing, however, that the best approach to this tragedy is to turn it into positives by looking up to Herbert Wigwe’s vision and legacies, and cementing them further to make him live on.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, the Mayor of Housing and CEO of the Housing & Construction Mayor Limited, My-ACE China, said he has contacted Herbert Wigwe’s partners and those associated with his dreams so as to galvanise them into making the dreams of the legend to live on.
He said: “Immediately after news of the crash in the US and the passing of the high profile Nigerian CEO and Rivers-born Dr Herbert Wigwe, I started looking up his partners, those associated with his dreams, and the construction partners at the Wigwe University to encourage them to keep hope alive. I know that men of vision, or legends, don’t die until their legacies die. So, Dr Herbert Wigwe is not dead, yet.
“So, I immediately started looking up those whose onus and opportunity it is to sustain his dreams and make sure that Dr Herbert Wigwe does not die.”
He stated that, “Dr Herbert Wigwe will die the day Wigwe University is dead; the day Access Bank Plc stops being a leading financial institution in the world; the day all the wonderful partnerships he has brokered between Access Holdings Plc and other companies globally and in Africa die; or the day all the acquisitions by Access Holdings Plc he has helped to acquire die.”
He insisted that “Access Holdings Plc is not a one-man dream, the Wigwe University concept is not a one-man dream, Herbert Wigwe is not a lone-man project, he has got partners, and he has got associates.”
According to him, “The onus is on them to ensure that the dreams do not die.”
Enumerating three ways Herbert Wigwe could possibly die, China stated: “If they let his vision die, then they have actually let him die; if they let his vision live and succeed, they have let him live; and if they propagate and exponentially build these dreams beyond the wildest imaginations of Herbert Wigwe himself, they would have not only made him live on but they would have immortalized him and his legacies.”
He recalled his quotes about legends and death thus: “I have a quote that says ‘legends don’t die, they only live as long as their legacies last’. Herbert Wigwe is not dead but he has left us a legacy of excellence, a legacy of performance, a legacy of visionary leadership, a legacy of exponential partnership, and a legacy of resilience in the face of hardship. All we can do is to put hands together to make sure Herbert Wigwe doesn’t die the real death.”
So, he declared, “all associates, all customers of Access Bank Plc, all workers, everybody that is associated in keeping his legacies alive, they must rally round and make sure this legend does not die.
“All I can say is: Herbert Wigwe is not dead, but if we want him to die, we let his dreams die. If we make his dreams live, he lives, but if we allow his dreams die, he then dies. If we make his dreams live beyond his wildest imaginations, then we would have made him live and live. So, let’s make Herbert Wigwe live on.”
The Mayor of Housing said he did not meet Herbert Wigwe face-to-face but that he has met some of his staff that revealed much about him, his visionary leadership, and his striving for excellence.
“I don’t know a lot but I know of one thing that is required to be a leader: the only way to lead is by example. One thing I have heard about Herbert Wigwe that I hold dearly is that if he asks you to do one thing 10 times, he does it 12 times. That shows he is a leader that acts in the front.
“We have other leaders that dish out commands from the back but would not do one tenth of what they ask you to do. But Dr Herbert Wigwe is a performance-leader, and such species of homo sapiens are rare. In fact, if we live the life of the likes of Dr Herbert Wigwe, we would not be busy weeping, but if we strive to sustain his dreams and legacies, he would then live on.”

By: Nelson Chukwudi