Shock and grief reverberated Nigeria’s business community and the whole country weekend as the news came in that Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Corporation, owners of Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by assets, died in a helicopter crash flying from Palm Spring in California to Nevada. Wigwe was one of four passengers that included his wife Chizoba, son Chizzy and the former group chairman of the NGX Abimbola Ogunbanjo. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has commenced investigations into the cause of the crash. It says the investigations is a long process but hope to submit an interim report in 2 weeks while final report may take up to 24 months. The Airbus EC130 has no data recorder as it was not expected and required by law to do so. Condolences have poured including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tony Elumelu, Governor Alex Otti of Abia, and Peter Obi. Herbert Wigwe was the co-founder of Access Bank and GMD until 2022. He is regarded as one the brightest minds in the industry and has recently established Wigwe University, with close associates saying he had the vision of building an Africa “Harvard”. There is no doubt that this is a massive loss for the country, and he will be sorely missed.
