Sunday, January 17, 2021
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
TheNewsGuru
  • Home
  • Columnist
  • News
    • National
    • World
  • Politics
  • Business News
  • Entertainment
  •         Tech
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
TheNewsGuru
  • Home
  • Columnist
  • News
    • National
    • World
  • Politics
  • Business News
  • Entertainment
  •         Tech
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
TheNewsGuru
No Result
View All Result

Home » Opinion » Albert Egbaroghene Okumagba: A visionary till his last breath – Dan Esiekpe

Albert Egbaroghene Okumagba: A visionary till his last breath – Dan Esiekpe

Ediri Oyibo by Ediri Oyibo
January 12, 2021
in Opinion
0
BREAKING: Frontline economist, Albert Okumagba dies at 56
23
SHARES
584
VIEWS
Share on WhatsAppShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on TelegramSend as Email

Today, I pay tribute to a friend,  brother, confidant and above all a visionary.

I first met Albert in Warri in the early seventies at their  family home  through his elder brother Patrick Okumagba who was and  remains my bosom friend .

Even way back then, there was always something special in Albert : handsome, idolized, somewhat shy, but always self assured and precocious.

I wish I were writing this for Albert’s  grand birthday party or at his much anticipated spectacular relaunch of the BGL corporate brand, but certainly not at his obituary!

READ ALSO

BREAKING: Frontline economist, Albert Okumagba dies at 56

Albert Okumagba: Profile and biography

2 days ago
996
Transition: Albert Okumagba, the man who dared to dream, By Anthony George-Ikoli

A painful ode to an exceptional Nigerian, Albert Okumagba (1964-2020) – Igali

5 days ago
753

But life can be really  so cruel and unfair sometimes.

It is really so cruel and unfair that the life of this great man, with his  ever present smile, warmth,  banter; his verve and pioneering courageous strides in structuring and nurturing capital formation to grow conglomerates has been cut short  and snatched away from all of us!

Is it fair that all  that hard  work of building corporate bridges,  plotting the future and daring to be different and being visionary in the midst of regulatory strictures should come this abrupt end without his due reward?

When Albert called me from Abuja a few days before his passing, he was his usual bullish and boisterous self . He spoke about an imminent end to the the long drawn nagging saga of his firm. He spoke of the imminent emergence of a bigger,  better BGL that will be much more diversified with new offerings and a much more diversified product portfolio.  So you see, my friend and brother was his usual visionary self plotting the future trajectory of his firm until his last breath !

In Albert Egbaroghene Okumagba, some saw a man bubbling with ideas and called him a dreamer. But those of us who knew him well, saw a great visionary who plotted exact pathways to prosperity for conglomerates and corporate Nigeria.

Egba was a strategic,  long term thinker who may have often felt frustrated by a regulatory environment that resisted honest appraisal of the big picture.

A man truly ahead of his times . Never self effacing, he had the physical,  mental and intellectual capacity that filled any room with an ever present smile, banter and deep business insights.  But always a very humble and trusting man,  but sometimes too trusting to a fault!

In an era when friendships, and loyalties are so fickle,  Albert was a friend and business contact you could trust .

Egba was so full of life and the gusto to live . At our periodic breakfast meetings,  he would loudly announce his presence at the door and walk with a  swagger straight to the dining table…

” Oga, wey the dry fish pepper soup nav” ?

” ..wetin? See fresh fish here…and another chicken pepper soup here na ” ? I will retort.

” you know I like the Combined Honours…the combo with dry fish,  chicken and  fresh fish pepper soup and plantain..” he will insist.

Finally,  the dry fish pepper soup arrives, and he will then sample all three pepper soup dishes with relish.

What a man !

In the business environment, it is one thing to craft strategies and position papers and stay positive when everything works out .

But it is  what you do and who you truly become when you are faced with enormous challenges  in the middle of  a storm that sets you  apart as a true  professional .

Albert was in a corporate storm in the last five years or so. But he remained a thoroughbred professional,  committed to his convictions and true to his name( Egba = Strength) and fought a good  fight .

The pessimist sees difficulties in every opportunity.  But Egba was an incurable optimist who saw opportunities

in every challenge.

He would storm into my home articulating ideas  even before taking an offered seat …

“Oga, we are sitting on a goldmine , but we are too busy sharing money we don’t even realise it ….Just fly from Lagos to Calabar, see the miles and miles of white, sandy unspoilt natural beaches..that’s money ! …Think about building a tourist corridor along those beaches…hotels, rail links, helipads, roads…the tourists will pour in foreign currency round the clock… with the music, theatre  film, comedy , fashion sectors fully integrated…see explosion in youth employment..Oga,  I will raise the money and make it happen! ”

At another meeting,  he is bristling with a fresh idea…

“Oga, see how we are blessed?  See where we are located on the map of Africa ? We are the real heartbeat  of Africa…That’s why we need an Aerotropolis…passenger, cargo, agriculture maintenance airports,  real 5-star hotels, rail lines running directly into the Aerotropolis, complementary services like engineering,  catering,  complementary real estates , convention centres, golf courses …and a central airport hub that will connect west and central Africa…everyone flying into west and central Africa will fly into Lagos first …so what are we waiting for ?

Oga, I will make it happen! ”

Albert had solutions to every imaginable corporate and national challenge.

When Egba is in  his visionary mode, he bubbles, becomes really excited about a future he can see, build and touch .

But first, he needed to survive the very many man made and somewhat intractable corporate storms and intrigues  around him before he could fully deploy  his innovative skills,  visionary abilities and his Can Do spirit.

But he was consistent in his belief in his ability to overcome all the induced crisis him and his firm till the very end .

In truth, he had a somewhat misplaced faith in people and the system, and believed that all his genuine efforts, his visionary and trail blazing records should be major assets to be recognized  and assisted by his friends, regulators and the system in the resolution of the BGL crisis .

But surrounded by intrigues and subterfuge,  he never for once lamented ” why me ? “, but always stayed positive by asking ” how can I and BGL come out of this crisis bigger,  stronger and better ” ?

Egba always believed that an easy road never took anyone to a great destination.

So he fought hard to walk through very treacherous and booby trapped roads hoping to arrive at a great destination.

Sadly,  we now know that his sagacity and very brave journey through that treacherous road was tragic.

He saw the great destination, barely arrived at the great destination, but  neither did he   touch  or savour its greatness before he was cruelly snatched from us !

Albert Egbaroghene Okumagba,  my friend,  my brother and confidant. I know you  are having a smooth passage right now to paradise because you stayed true to your Christian beliefs and held on strongly to your Catholic faith till the very end.

May the Lord grant your lovely wife and children the fortitude to bear your irreparable loss; and may your soul find a peaceful repose in the bosom of the Lord.

Amen.

DAN ESIEKPE

Tags: Albert OkumagbaDan EsiekpeTribute

Related Posts

BREAKING: Frontline economist, Albert Okumagba dies at 56
Lifestyle

Albert Okumagba: Profile and biography

2 days ago
996
Transition: Albert Okumagba, the man who dared to dream, By Anthony George-Ikoli
Columnist

A painful ode to an exceptional Nigerian, Albert Okumagba (1964-2020) – Igali

5 days ago
753
BREAKING: Frontline economist, Albert Okumagba dies at 56
Lifestyle

Albert Okumagba: Family announces new dates for funeral of late frontline economist

1 month ago
1.1k
Load More
Next Post
NITDA features 5 startups on U.S. consumer electronics show

NITDA features 5 startups on U.S. consumer electronics show

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get breaking news direct on your device.

Get Latest News

Trending News

  • Trending: Akwa Ibom corper allegedly hacks boyfriend to death [Graphic footage]

    Trending: Akwa Ibom corper allegedly hacks boyfriend to death [Graphic footage]

    423 shares
    Share 169 Tweet 106
  • BREAKING: Ndubuisi Kanu, former military administrator of Imo, Lagos, is dead

    318 shares
    Share 127 Tweet 80
  • JUST IN: Billionaire owner of Planet One nightclub, Shaka Momoh dies of COVID-19

    194 shares
    Share 78 Tweet 49
  • Trending: Buhari’s appointee, Willy Amadi caught in sex scandal tape [+ Video]

    118 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 30
  • CAN tackles Islamic Group for telling Kukah to apologise or leave Sokoto

    117 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 29
  • ‘I killed him in self-defence’ – Corps member who killed ‘lover’ in Akwa Ibom tells police

    97 shares
    Share 39 Tweet 24
  • Failed marriage: I was stupid, women should be like Tiwa Savage,  Funke Akindele –Princess

    464 shares
    Share 186 Tweet 116
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Columnist
  • News
    • National
    • World
  • Politics
  • Business News
  • Entertainment
  •         Tech
  • Sports

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist