Africa’s richest man cum founder of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has renamed the 20-kilometre Road to his refinery and petrochemical company in Ibeju-Lekki, after the late Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe.
Dangote tearfully disclosed this in his speech at the event tagged, ‘Celebrating Herbert Wigwe – A Professional Legacy’, held in honour of the late top banker in Lagos on Monday night.
Friends, captains of industry, family members, and associates gathered at the Eko Hotel in Lagos on Monday to pay their last respects to the late former Access Holdings boss, who died on February 9, 2024, in a helicopter crash in the United States, alongside his wife and son as well as a former Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) Abimbola Ogunbanjo. Two crew members also died in the ill-fated crash.
Dangote, described Wigwe as his brother and friend, noting that he was pivotal to the success of the Dangote Group.
“He was a pillar of support to me, and my family,” an emotional Dangote told the gathering in Lagos.
In his speech, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina hailed Wigwe’s ingenuity, saying, “everything he touched turned into gold”.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State described Wigwe as a “completely detribalised” person whom Lagos will not forget.
Similarly, in their tributes, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Wale Edun and Yemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, commended Wigwe’s immense contributions to the nation’s economy.
“He was so full of ideas and creative in his thinking,” Edun said.