Life and Times of Herbert Wigwe

Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe was born on 15 August 1966, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

The late Wigwe had a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Nigeria in 1987. In 1990, he received the British Council Scholarship to study at the University College of North Wales where he earned a Master of Arts in banking and finance in 1991.

He went ahead to earn MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London in 1996. He was an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Program. In 2018, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Wigwe started his career at Coopers & Lybrand and later joined Guaranty Trust Bank where he spent over a decade. In 2002, Wigwe and his business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede bought Access Bank. Between 2002 and 2017, the bank went from being the 65th largest in Nigeria to the 4th largest bank in the country.

Between 2002 and 2014 he served as the company’s deputy managing director. Wigwe also served as the Chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited starting in 2013, Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and was at the time of his death the Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited.

He was a board member of Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company and a member of the advisory Board for Friends Africa. He was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN – FCA), a Fellow of The Institute of Credit Administration, and an Honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria

Wigwe was a philanthropist in his own rights. Along with Access Bank and UNICEF he collaborated to offer support to vulnerable children, orphans and internally displaced persons in the northern part of Nigeria.

One of purpose vehicle is the annual high-profile Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament and in 2016, Wigwe founded The HOW Foundation, a non-profit organization.

In February 2017, he was named co-chair of Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS (NiBUCCA), a private sector initiative to help eradicate HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and support people living with the condition.

Just before his tragic death, Wigwe had announced the commencement of Wigwe University and some Nigerians have condemned his decision to charge tuition in the United State of America Dollar.

Sad, the news broke yesterday, February 10, 2024, that the chopper transporting Herbert Wigwe, to Las Vegas to watch the Super Bowl 58, an American football competition, that will hold today at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, crashed near a border city between Nevada and California on Friday night.

The unfortunate incident also killed his wife and two children on board with him.

Herbert Wigwe lived for 57 years and he achieved so much. Sadly, he lost all, including his unfulfilled dreams in quick succession. He lost everything including his life, his wife, and his son.

May the soul of Herbert Wigwe, his wife and his son and others rest in peace!!!