The philanthropic milestones of grandmaster of Nigeria banking industry and founder, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Olasubomi Balogun, would scarcely go unnoticed. On March 9, Nigeria’s pride and lawyer-turned-banker marked 81 years on earth and many years of breathtaking success. HENRY ODUAH writes on one of Nigeria’s finest.
Difficult moments, especially in a nation’s history, are usually marked by countrymen tightening their financial belts and spending judiciously. It’s called austerity measure. But Otunba Olasubomi Michael Balogun has had no reason whatsoever to perhaps put a temporary halt to his laudable benevolence. It could be assumed, consequently, that the act of giving and giving more could be one of his hobbies.
His enviable love for God highly expressed in his actions, and maybe inactions, is reflective in his overall love for humanity. After all, love for an unseen God is first expressed in man’s neighbours as visible entities.
Otunba Balogun was born a Muslim at Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, on March 9, 1934 in a polygamous home. He is a descendant of the late Oba Tunwase, the Awujale of Ijebu, during the colonial era. His father was one of the pioneer native authority workers at that time, while his mother was his father’s only educated wife among others.
The young Subomi had his secondary education at Igbobi College, Lagos, where he was converted to Christianity. He further read Law and graduated with LLB Honours in June 1959 at the London School of Economics (LSE). He was subsequently called to the English Bar in December of that same year.
Before he finished his Law studies, he was selected by the then government of Western Region headed by Obafemi Awolowo to be trained as a Parliamentary Counsel at Whitehall and the British Parliament, London, the first in Nigeria’s history.
Between 1966 and 1975, he served as first Principal Counsel and Company Secretary to the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) set up by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). During this period, Otunba set his mind to learning all he could as he worked closely with the IBRD, including its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington DC, United States of America.
He was handed the office of Director of Operations at Icon Securities Limited, a subsidiary of NIDB in 1973. He spear-headed the conversion of Icon Securities into a merchant bank. He also had a hand in the establishment of Icon Stockbrokers Limited, a stockbroking firm. He later represented the bank as an executive director at the council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The Olori Omo-Oba of Ijebuland resigned his position at Icon in December 1977 to set up his own company, City Securities Limited, a company famous for being the first Nigerian institution to combine stock broking and issuing house. Otunba, known to be a good listener, attributes his determination to establish his own firm to his then nine-year-old son, Jide, who, after having prayer sessions with his parents, whispered to his mother that his father should start his own firm.
Again, Otunba made history in 1979 when he established the first solely Nigerian-owned merchant bank, which he called First City Merchant Bank (FCMB). Of course, the idea didn’t come without disapprovals from folks around him.
The idea of the bank, which is now over three decades old, was borne out of a disappointing experience Otunba had as an employee with NIDB’s Icon Limited after being denied headship of the bank, which he helped initiate. He could not head the bank because he had his basic training in Law and not banking-related courses. Today, Otunba stands as the grandmaster of the Nigerian banking industry. He remains grateful that he was challenged to do something great after that experience.
FCMB, in its first 20 years of existence, experienced steady growth and as such earned national and international recognition as market leader in investment banking and capital market services.
The bank has since grown to be known as FCMB, a bank highly remembered for its choice of the white colour and an edifice befitting of a monument. Raising the bar has also gone into the character of this brand.
Otunba’s story is never complete without the mentioning of his countless and incredible philanthropic works. He undoubtedly has a penchant for education such that a high percentage of his philanthropy is enjoyed by the education sector, precisely higher institutions of learning in Nigeria.
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a big beneficiary of his incredible boon. Though Subomi is not an alumnus of the university and neither are his children, time has proven him to be one of the most cherished friends of the varsity. In 1987, he set up a Chair for Capital Market Studies in the varsity’s department of economics.
Not long ago, the iconic giver through his bank, FCMB, yet again donated a new 18-seater Toyota Hiace Bus to Queen Elizabeth II Hall of the university, to enable the physically-challenged members of the Hall move around the campus with ease.
Otunba Tunwase Foundation is one of his creations to cater for all his philanthropic endeavours. On June 6, 2014, Otunba extended his generous hands to the nation again with the donation of the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatric Centre (OTNPC), Ijebu-Ode, to the UI. The institution was built to cater for the health, survival and welfare of the Nigerian child, and to provide an avenue for specialised studies and academic researches into all manners of children’s diseases and ailments. This project is said to have gulped over N2 billion of his personal resources.
Records show that the gift remains the biggest single donation to the university by any individual donor. Today, that centre is a campus of the UI College of Medicine.
The Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians made his presence felt at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) where he started a Research Fellowship in the Legal Department of the institution. Olabisi Onabanjo University (formerly Ogun State University) and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) are among the tertiary educational institutions touched by Otunba’s mighty hand.
His hometown, Ijebu-Ode, has long reaped the fruit of a loyal son, with the donation of a police post at Imoru and a Civic Centre named Otunba Tunwase Civic Centre for the Ijebu-Ode Club.
In 1989, he donated to the Ijebu-Ode General Hospital, a newly built and fully air-conditioned 40-bed children’s centre named after his mother – Iye Subomi’s Child Care Centre.
In addition, scholarship awards have been dished out to Nigerian students in both secondary and tertiary levels. Students of Muslim College, Ijebu-Ode; Nigerian School for the Blind, Oshodi, Lagos; among others have been awarded varying scholarships.
Beside his generosity, Otunba, in his youth, had an admirable sense of fashion, which he sometimes alluded to his father as his source of inspiration.
The 81-year-old, even at his age, still acknowledges God as the force behind his resounding success story. He was once quoted to have said: “My journey to what you now see has been divinely guided. I will refer to it as divine intervention. At the headquarters of my organisation, you will read this on a plaque, ‘The building is dedicated to the glory of God as an embodiment of a young man’s faith in the unfailing support of the Almighty God’.
“It is also a monument of a young Nigerian’s determination to succeed and to prove that, given the opportunity, he has the mettle to attain the commanding height the management of a financial institution requires. Lastly, it serves as a lesson to all mankind that, in all things, though mortals may have their say, God will have his way.”
The baron of Nigeria’s capital and money markets is married to Olori Abimbola Adetutu Balogun (nee Ayoola). The couple is blessed with four sons engaged in banking, finance, stock broking and legal practice.
Otunba is a lover of swimming. A church man, he likes to call himself. He enjoys travelling, reading and watching international news. Sometimes he would just go on a walk in his 50-acre Ijebu-Ode home.
It remains impossible for some individuals who have distinguished themselves to be easily forgotten. Otunba Subomi’s exploits will keep speaking for him even after his generation is long gone. He is one individual history itself would be proud to recall.
