As Nigeria is in a celebrative mood, one of her illustrious sons has also brought an international honour that has added colour to the 60th independence anniversary celebration.
According to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “the heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
The above quote captures the exploit of Tony Elumelu, who today has become a global icon by dint of hard work, consistency and philanthropy.
Elumelu is the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) and founder of Heirs Holdings, his family investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa.
All over the continent of Africa, prayers are on a daily basis mounted by individuals and families that have been directly touched by his milk of kindness.
Little wonder the media was awash with the cheery news as soon as Elumelu’s name was announced as one of the ‘TIME 100′ most influential individuals in the world in 2020.
Among those who celebrated the feat were the young men and women whose lives have been given a meaning through the Entrepreneurship initiative of Elumelu that empowers African youths.
Elumelu, an economist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, is also the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), dedicated to raising young entrepreneurs across the African continent.
Many Nigerians have continued to congratulate him on the latest feat. They have also challenged other rich Nigerians to emulate Elumelu’s milk of kindness.
A Nigerian who spoke with BDSUNDAY on condition of anonymity, profusely commended Elumelu, saying that he deserved whatever award anybody or group could give him on account of his philanthropic exploits.
“I am not sure Tony Elumelu is the richest Nigerian. I am very sure that there are many other Nigerians as rich as he is, but why is it that we do not hear about their programmes targeted at lifting the poor? We hear and read stories about Nigerians who own choice properties in choice places across the globe; we see those who advertise their wealth on social media, yet none of them has that humanity and enough public spirit to help the poor.
“We have just insignificant number of the rich that have the poor at heart. Look at all the sectors of the Nigerian economy, everything is gloom. How many of them sponsor education of indigent children in their communities, Nigeria as a country, let alone African continent as Elumelu is doing? I continue to remember him in my prayers,” the citizen, who identified herself as a school principal, said.
The educationist noted that if the wealthy people in Nigeria had seen the need to give to the poor in their midst, the poverty level in the country would have drastically reduced.
“Nigeria today holds an unenviable record as the poverty headquarters of the world; is it not an irony when we have many multi-billionaire businessmen and politicians in Nigeria? What most of these rich men do not know is that there is a divine connection or angle to giving. After all, the scripture says, ‘Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.’ I congratulate Tony Elumelu, and my prayer for him is that the good Lord will reward him with long life,” she said.
Elated at the news of the global recognition of the excellent entrepreneur, President Muhammadu Buhari had last week greeted Elumelu for the feat, expressing the optimism that the recognition by TIME is just one of the many accolades that will come the way of the Delta-born businessman.
By the same token, the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives in congratulating the foremost philanthropist described the recognition as well-deserving, given Elumelu’s selfless contribution towards human capital development, wealth creation, economic growth as well as empowerment of young entrepreneurs not only in Nigeria but also in Africa in general.
The Caucus, in a statement signed by Ndudi Elumelu (PDP Delta), the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, noted that Elumelu’s entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and innovativeness had again brought respect and honour to Nigeria in the international arena.
“As lawmakers, we are proud of Dr. Elumelu, whose performance in global business competitiveness has further reinforced our individual and collective resilience to add value in our national, continental and global quest for economic growth and better living standard,” it said.
The lawmakers celebrated Elumelu’s achievement in “providing corporate and consumer banking services to more than 21 million customers every year in no fewer than 20 African countries, the United Kingdom and France as well as his feat in financial services, hospitality, healthcare, power and energy to boost wealth creation, business and employment opportunities and better living standard in Nigeria and across Africa”.
The caucus also noted that the naming by TIME is another loud ovation to the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) for its creation of millions of jobs particularly through the investing of $5000 in 1000 young entrepreneurs every year, across all 54 countries as well as his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which has repositioned private sector engagement across the continent.
The lawmakers urged Elumelu to see the recognition as a voice speaking for the beneficiaries of his programmes and a call for more service to humanity.
Congratulating Elumelu, Aliko Dangote, president, Dangote Industries Limited, said: “A mere handshake says a lot about Tony Elumelu.”
According to the business magnate, “His gritty grip underlines his charming, tenacious personality: a man who hardly backs down from any challenge. The same engaging qualities have propelled him from a modest beginning in Nigeria to becoming chair of the United Bank of Africa, and one of the most innovative and ambitious business leaders of his generation.”
He further said that Elumelu “Is a leading proponent of ‘Africapitalism,’ a belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development through long-term investments, as well as entrepreneurship and regional connectivity.”
He recalled that “After deepening the financial market in Africa, he has found an equally important niche: giving a voice of hope to millions of youths across Africa. Tony has harnessed Africa’s youth bulge to catalyse development and protect the future, committing to investing $5,000 each in 1,000 young entrepreneurs per year across 54 countries in Africa.”
“Having come so far, Tony still forges on, striking a fine balance between personal satisfaction and societal impact,” he further said.
Recall that Elumelu was also recently named among business leaders helping the world fight Covid-19.
ID Africa, a marketing, media and technology company, had listed him as one of the ‘Neusroom 100 Project’- a recognition of 100 people, organisations, countries and things helping the world fight the pandemic and flatten the Covid-19 curve.
The man Elumelu
Elumelu, born 22 March 1963, is an African economist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He holds the Nigerian national honours, the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) and Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2003. He received Nigeria’s National Productivity Order of Merit in 2019.
Elumelu started his career with Union Bank as a Youth Corps member of the National Youth Service Corps in 1985. In his early career, Elumelu acquired Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and United Bank for Africa (UBA) afterwards.
Following his retirement from UBA in 2010, Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings, which invests in the financial services, energy, real estate and hospitality, agribusiness, and healthcare sectors. In the same year, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation, an Africa-based and African-funded philanthropic organisation.
Elumelu serves as an advisor to the USAID’s Private Capital Group for Africa (PCGA) Partners Forum. He sits on the Nigerian President’s Agricultural Transformation Implementation Council (ATIC).
He is also vice-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN) whose formation he was a key driver in, and serves as Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Dialogue Series on Global Food Security. He additionally chairs the Ministerial Committee to establish world-class hospitals and diagnostic centres across Nigeria, at the invitation of the Federal Government and the Presidential Jobs Board, engineered to create 3 million jobs in one year. He also serves as a member of the Global Advisory Board of the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) and USAID’s Private Capital Group for Africa Partners Forum.
He was one of the co-chairs of the 26th World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, from 11 to 13 May 2016.
In 2006, he won the African Business Leader of The Year award conferred by the United Kingdom-based magazine, Africa Investor. In 2009, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua asked him to serve on the Presidential Committee on the Global Financial Crisis. At the 5th edition of the annual Economic Forum of the Ivorian National Council of Employers, CGECI Academy, (CGECI) in Abidjan in April 2016, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award. Also, in 2016, he was awarded the ‘Daily Times, Nigerian man of the year.’
