BY Jesupemi Are
Bola Tinubu, president-elect, says the death of Subomi Balogun, founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), would create a vacuum that would be difficult to fill in the banking industry.
Balogun passed away on Friday morning in London after an illness. He was 89 years old.
The president-elect, in a statement on Saturday, described Balogun as a giant among men for his trailblasing and pioneering role in investment banking in Nigeria.
Tinubu said the founder lived a life full of many accomplishments and achieved what many considered impossible when he pioneered investment banking in Nigeria.
He added that Balogun was a “giant among men who changed the course of history and lived life on his own terms as a reputable investment banker”
“The news of the death of Otunba Subomi Michael Balogun in London yesterday was indeed a sad one. Even though he lived to an advanced age of 89, we didn’t expect that he would leave us at this time,” Tinubu said.
“From a lawyer who joined the western region ministry of justice and later as parliamentary counsel at the Federal Ministry of Justice, he moved to Nigerian Industrial Development Bank to start a banking career that blossomed into pioneering merchant banking in our country. What started as First City Merchant Bank in 1979 transformed into First City Monument Bank, one of the most admired banks in Nigeria today.
“While we mourn the exit of this great man of purpose, we cherish and celebrate his great achievements, his philanthropy and the many lives he positively impacted. We appreciate and commend his huge contributions to the growth and development of our country.
“I commiserate with the immediate family of this illustrious son of Nigeria, Governor Dapo Abiodun, His Royal Majesty Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebuland, the government and people of Ogun State and the entire christian community in Ijebuland. May God grant Otunba Subomi Balogun eternal rest.”
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