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I am a past president of the Rotary Club and a Paul Harris fellow. Whereas the Rotary Club is committed to advancing global understanding, goodwill and peace, Paul Harris fellows are individuals who have made significant contributions to the Rotary Foundation. I was attracted to the club because of the opportunity to serve humanity with my talents. I leveraged my official capacity and embarked on a very ambitious food bank project during my tenure. I raised substantial funds from targeted high net worth individuals, triple-A companies, family, friends, and well-wishers. With the cooperation of my fellow Rotarians, I procured large consignments of foodstuff, clothing, and other materials directly from the manufacturers at concessionary prices. These items were subsequently distributed to various institutions of less privileged people in Nigeria like the Motherless Babies Home, Boys Remand Home, Pacelli School for the Blind, All Saints Orphanage, and the Wesley School for the Deaf and Dumb.

As I mentioned earlier, I was born in Accra, Ghana. I completed my primary school education and started my secondary school education in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. My secondary school education was truncated in 1967 by the Biafran war. I lived with my maternal grandparents until the end of the war in 1970, when I traveled back to Accra, Ghana. I returned from Ghana and completed my secondary school education in 1971, and eventually left for Lagos, Nigeria, where I started my working career in 1973. I occasionally visited our town at Eziama when my parents returned from Ghana because of their expulsion and settled in Nigeria.

I had never interacted effectively with my people in Eziama, where my father was born, until he died in 2003.  Meanwhile, there had been a leadership crisis in Eziama that coincided with my resignation from the bank in 2005. I deliberately campaigned and was elected to the position of president-general of the town union with Eze Zeb Phillips Nwosu, the traditional ruler. I had lived with him when I migrated to Lagos in 1972. My involvement was a conscious strategy designed to serve my community and develop a good relationship. I committed all the resources and applied all the leadership and organizational development skills at my disposal to ensure success.

 I had been exposed to minor political manipulations during my banking career. I loathed it because it did not align with my honest, transparent, and straightforward attitude. Together with members of the executive committee of the town union, I changed the orientation of the town union and steered it on to the path of sustainable growth and stability. While diligently discharging my leadership responsibilities to improve the circumstances of the town union, I observed that there were covert, selfish aspirations and political maneuvers designed to undermine my authority and impugn my integrity. I promptly resigned from my position as the president-general of the town union after serving for five years. At the end of my tenure, I prepared and delivered a formal and elaborate handover document to my successor.  I enumerated the accomplished projects and those in progress to facilitate continuity in the affairs of the town union.

I mentioned the cohesive structure that I had established, the upgrade of the local infrastructure to enhance revenue mobilization, and the security architecture that needed to be maintained and strengthened. I also talked about the desire for peace and unity, the education and youth development programs, the politics and social services efforts, the strategic development initiatives, and finance. Unfortunately, my successors preferred to pursue selfish projects with primordial instincts. Even though we eventually succeeded in redirecting the town union to the path of stability, the disruptive and selfish interests of enemies of progress attracted the community’s wrath. They plunged it into another round of crisis. The crisis is ongoing. These unhealthy permutations have partly informed my determination to avoid politics at all costs. I recognize that my decisions may have implications of far-reaching dimensions, but that is a sacrifice that I am willing to make. I have resisted all requests to attract me to party politics in Nigeria.

I know that my wife and I have engaged in numerous acts of support, benevolence, and goodwill to the community. We continue to do so. It is not my desire to recount them. However, we have encouraged our children to follow in our footsteps so that they can appreciate the joy and satisfaction that accrue from giving. I have been conferred with several honors for my contribution to the development of the community and beyond. I do not publicize them.

Despite a flurry of invitations, I have refused to accept a chieftaincy title to validate my contributions to the community. I do not believe that I must be rewarded for my charitable actions. Many people do not know I have a doctorate because I do not flaunt it. I did not acquire it for the sake of recognition or the improvement of my social status. I did because of the degree of skill and empowerment it confers on me to contribute to the development of society.

I was conferred as a Knight of Saint Christopher (KSC) by the Bishop of Okigwe North Diocese of the Anglican Communion in 1995 when I was 43 years old. Suppose you google the knight of Saint Christopher; you are likely to discover that it is an elite secret society of werewolves whose mission is to eliminate all black magic users. I am a Knight of Saint Christopher (KSC). A member of the laity of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, whom the bishop deemed fit to be bestowed with such an honor. A knight is a defender of the faith and a soldier for propagating Jesus Christ’s gospel. The knighthood that I belong to is not a secret society.

I was not an avid churchgoer at the time of the conferment. Initially, I had the impression that knighthood was bestowed on older men who were conversant with the teachings of the bible and heavily invested in the doctrines and principles of the church. The honor was proposed to my dad but was eventually bestowed on me. On August 23, 1952, I was baptized by Reverend Ankrah in Accra, Ghana. The Rt. Reverend Nwankiti, the Bishop of Owerri Diocese, Nigeria, confirmed me on September 8, 1971. I was not overtly religious by any standard. Apart from church attendance in the company of my parents when I was growing up, the earliest formal, intensive exposure that I had to the bible was in a Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) course during my high school days.

My loyalty to the church, faith, and belief in God Almighty witnessed a monumental change after being bestowed with the knighthood. That singular action altered my beliefs and assumptions and strengthened my resolve to defend the faith and propagate the gospel of Christ. I am not a religious fanatic. However, I hope people may be persuaded to embrace my religious orientations through my actions, utterances, interactions, and general disposition.

By applying my time, talent, and treasure, I make a modest and meaningful contribution to the church’s growth. The inspirational pilgrimage that my wife and I made in 2007 to the holy sites of Galilee, Jerusalem, River Jordan, Bethlehem, and others consolidated my faith and belief in the teachings of the Bible. When I was a kid, my mother would challenge me whenever I spent an inordinate period executing errands. She would ask, “did you go to Jerusalem in heaven?”. I grew up to think that Jerusalem was in heaven until much later in life.

My religious belief is anchored on the biblical injunction, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mathew 22:37-39). I may not be rich, but I am comfortable and content with my situation in life. I am not greedy, and I am not overly ambitious.

Given my background and antecedents, I have invariably engaged in multiple acts of benevolence. As I mentioned before, I have a short-term memory, so I forget these acts soon after doing them. This situation implies that I do not expect compensation for my action. I do not publicize them. Frequently though, I observe people excitedly bragging about their philanthropy and accomplishments. They may derive joy from doing so. I am not judgemental, but I believe that compensation comes from God.

The fear of failure is defined as an irrational and persistent fear of failing. I have a pathological fear of failure, which has been responsible for some of my inhibitions. My previous efforts to trace the source of my fears have failed, thereby generating anxiety, and reinforcing the element of fear to a higher degree. The fear of failure can lead to more failures by making you unduly anxious and reluctant to take calculated risks to achieve positive results.  It diminishes your attitude towards positive-mindedness. 

I have often analyzed the components of fear as a process to facilitate a better understanding to no avail. I make a deliberate and conscious effort to eschew fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, etc. I realize that the psychological ramification of fear is intangible and futuristic and does not portend a present or imminent danger. I know that fear manifests as unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia, etc. Meanwhile, anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental disease in the United States.

I remind myself consistently that fear is purely a projection of the mind and can have far-reaching implications on my consciousness if not adequately managed. Though these realizations tend to absolve some of the fears that I retain, they still haunt me. On introspection, I believe that the fear of failure has constrained my capacity to achieve breakthrough results. Ironically the same fear of failure may have prevented me from catastrophic losses. Though I have learned to live with it, I counsel members of my family and close friends to eschew it.

As I approach the proverbial age of three scores and ten, I have learned to practice the art of deep meditation to conquer some of my chronic fears. I learned to live in the present moment rather than engage in endless ruminations regretting my past, prospecting for the future, and pondering about factors beyond my control. I am much more conscious of my surroundings and accept things the way they are. My family and friends have also learned to accommodate my measured reactions to circumstances. I would often dismissively claim that “it is what it is.”

One of my expatriate bosses had recommended me for a promotion because I consistently maintained a severe mien. I resigned from my job with the bank because seriousness no longer represented one of the tools in my arsenal for success. I needed a closer relationship with members of my family and friends. I needed to be less severe. I have made so many mistakes in the past. I do not regret them because that was the way they were meant to be. My smartwatch helps me practice deep breathing and engage in other stress management exercises. I take consolation in the bible passage that says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6).

Fetishism, which recognizes an inanimate spirit object as a custodian of magical powers, is pervasive in Nigeria. It had been practiced from time immemorial. People who were suspected as ogbanje, an incarnation of an evil spirit in Igboland, were often ostracized from the community. The birthing of twin children was considered an abomination, so one of them had to be killed and disposed of in an evil forest. The Yoruba culture forbade married women from having a sexual relationship with another man. A wife suspected of cheating could be laced with magun, a magical charm that could kill the lover or make it impossible for the lover to disengage after the act of sexual intercourse. Some of these so-called abominable acts may have been consigned to history where they belong. However, other fetish and more devilish behaviors have emerged in Nigeria and have assumed disturbing proportions.

Approximately 800 million or 11% of people live in extreme poverty, which the World Bank defines as surviving on just $1.90 a day. Global extreme poverty rose for the first time in over 20 years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was exacerbated by forces of conflict and violence and compounded by the devastating effects of climate change phenomena. About 120 million additional people have been consigned to poverty because of the pandemic. Global extreme poverty was projected to hit 150 million by the end of 2021. Half of the poor people are women and children who live in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are dominant in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. Nigeria’s 12-year conflict with the Islamic insurgents alone has claimed about 350,000 and displaced 3 million people.

Due to the perennial traffic congestion in Lagos, where I lived for most of my life, I would often walk to nearby facilities to engage in chores. The walks also provided me with a much-needed opportunity to exercise. I would deploy my strong observation skills to analyze the circumstances of the people and the environment. I can usually interpret the lifestyles of the people and the peculiarities of their environment. I would quickly observe that about 50% of the young persons I see possess no visible means of livelihood.

Official demographics specify that 50% of the population is represented by youth below 19 years. The unemployment rate in Nigeria rose to a catastrophic rate of about 27% in the second quarter of 2020, representing the highest in history. In the fourth quarter of 2020, 38.5% of the labor force aged 15 to 24 years in Nigeria was unemployed.

The combination of the high poverty rate, youth unemployment, and moral degradation has elevated the syndrome of fetishism among youths in Nigeria recently. Though the rate of kidnapping for ransom had been pervasive in Nigeria, it is gradually being overtaken by kidnapping for money rituals. The frustration and inordinate desire of youths have driven them to embrace the get-rich-quick syndrome.

“Yahoo plus,” a coined name representing internet scams in Nigeria, has been upgraded to “yahoo plus plus” to accommodate the brutal and tragic crime of monumental dimensions that scavenges body parts through ritual killing. This development is more prevalent with the youth, some of whom had confessed after being caught in the act. They are willing to kill their loved ones and harvest their body parts to prepare charms and potions, which are alleged to provide magical powers to ensure success in their fraudulent activities.

I had the impression that the more educated and enlightened people are, the more objective and result-oriented. However, I have had so many disappointing occasions when I would condemn the fetish beliefs of some educated proponents of juju. They would engage me in vigorous arguments in defense of the efficacy of voodoo or juju. Unfortunately, these inclinations are profound and pervasive. Due to my affiliation with the sciences, I believe in objective reality that recognizes the external world of physical objects, events, and forces that can be observed, tested, and measured. Ritual murder, witchcraft, black or white magic, or similar contraptions have no relationship with power, influence, and success.

The typical medium for activating these so-called magical powers resides in the herbalists who are locally referred to as “native doctors.” By the way, they have no business denigrating that highly cherished and revered title (Doctor) that several decent people have persevered to achieve. After dispossessing their fetish patrons of their financial resources, they would often recommend seemingly impossible and despicable sacrificial deeds to conclude the process. They would expect their ignoble clients to abandon their inordinate fetish desires. Unfortunately, the die-hard clients would proceed and deliver hard-to-find body parts as recommended to protect their initial investments.

I retired from the banking industry in Nigeria at the age of 53 after working for 32 years. In my capacity as MD/CEO, I had the opportunity to engage in unprofessional practices for personal enrichment. I did not do so because I felt it was not the right thing to do. Operational guidelines, manuals of procedures, employment contracts, and other policy documents may have identified violations and prescribed punishments. However, the potency of my internalized values of discipline and loyalty far outweighed those prescriptions. After all, people regularly engage in frauds, forgeries, and other malpractices, knowing that those infractions violated policies and procedures. I have been confronted by dishonest and unethical persons who admonish me for not leveraging my official capacity to enrich myself. I usually ignore them.

As I mentioned earlier, I was the first MD/CEO of UTB to give six months’ notice of my desire to resign. I worked diligently until the expiration of the notice. Many of my colleagues and friends attended my birthday anniversary party, which was celebrated two days before my final disengagement. An elaborate and well-publicized farewell party was organized in my honor, with my wife and my friends in attendance. I received congratulatory letters, messages, and cards from the regulatory bodies, the banking industry, bank customers, and staff.  In my final disengagement report to the board of directors, I specifically excused myself from remaining on the bank’s board or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates because of corporate governance reasons. I felt that it was the right thing to do.

My early retirement from the banking industry in Nigeria may have posed some challenges, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life for several reasons. Through the actions of my predecessor, I was compelled to engage in a crisis management orientation. Consequently, I was exposed to so much stress and anxiety. I felt nervous, restless, and tense. I had a consistent premonition of danger and doom arising from problems I did not cause. Despite my exercise regimen, I always had a headache and felt weak and tired.  I could not disengage my mind from the challenges that the bank faced. All my personal and family responsibilities seemed to be non-existent. Meanwhile, I was lonely and isolated because my wife and children were away in the United States. I even resorted to pain medication misuse as I consumed Panadol, a famous local brand of acetaminophen, in irregular doses.

As I mentioned earlier, my wife and children had emigrated to the United States in 1996. From the moment my predecessor was forced out of the bank in December 2001 and I was appointed acting MD/CEO, the complexity of my responsibilities assumed an unexpected dimension. I could no longer pay adequate attention to the upkeep and well-being of my wife and children. I concentrated all my efforts on the management of the dwindling fortunes of the bank. I was the only executive director of the bank at that time. Because my presence was crucial in managing the daily affairs of the bank, I was practically regimented. I could not effectively discharge my parental responsibility of counseling, supervision, and control to ensure the safety of my young and impressionable children as they faced life-changing events.

I had compelled my wife to abandon her job and other crucial responsibilities in the U.S. and join me in Nigeria because I felt I was at the edge of looming mental exhaustion. I had a feeling of depression accompanied by a persistent sad and hopeless emotional frame of mind. Her presence provided a welcome relief because I could engage in sensitive conversations and analyze my options with her. My mother had been ill and was staying with my sister Christiana in Umuahia, Abia State. Under normal circumstances, I would have traveled immediately to visit her. However, due to my commitments in the office, I could not do so. I arranged for my wife and my sister Gladys to proceed to Umuahia. I had mobilized them and was ready to leave for work when the message came that my mother had passed away.

Though I recognized the problem that a short absence from the office posed, I braved the odds and traveled to Umuahia a few days later. I felt a great sense of loss, mainly because my father had passed away the previous year. I submitted my letter of resignation on November 1, 2004, while still grieving my mother’s death a week earlier on October 25, 2004. My colleagues and friends joined me in my hometown to accord my mother a befitting burial on November 25, 2004.

As soon as I submitted my resignation letter, I felt that a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders. The first visible sign of relief was the surprising disappearance of the stress and anxiety symptoms. Even though I continued executing my functions diligently until the expiration of my notice to resign, I stopped ingesting the painkillers. Apart from the headaches associated with bouts of malaria that I suffer occasionally, the need for pain medication has become unwarranted since my retirement.

Immediately after disengaging from the bank, I concentrated on completing my doctoral program. I enlisted my friend Mr. Adesugba who had assisted me in administering the research questionnaires. I conducted face-to-face interviews with management consultants and some top management bank staff. I completed the analysis of all the data collected, finalized the authoring of my dissertation, and traveled to the United States to do the defense.

I came back to Nigeria after the successful defense of my dissertation. Meanwhile, I was still staying in the official residence of the MD/CEO at Victoria Island because I had leased out my house at Ogudu GRA. I had some challenges moving out of the accommodation. The bank charged me for staying beyond the deadline given to me. I eventually moved out in January 2006.

After retirement, the best thing that happened to me was my liberation from regimentation. It enamored me with the capacity and unlocked my potential to reestablish and reenergize my relationship with my wife and children. Apart from my wife, it was tough explaining my decision to retire to my children and cohorts. They could not understand. My early retirement also allowed me to bridge the family gap created by my parents’ passing away and reconnect with other members of my extended family and friends. The fulfillment that I derive from these engagements is unfathomable.

I know that efforts were made to persuade me to stay when I submitted my resignation letter. There was a reluctance to receive the letter. Even though I had given six months’ notice of my desire to resign, I had not made any arrangements regarding my post-retirement activities. My decision to leave was driven purely by emotional reasons. It was a fortuitous and subjective decision of the heart because I did not have a ready house to move into or a planned vocation to engage me. I could not comprehend my subsequent line of action because I did not know.

Money may be a powerful and effective motivator. However, it has never been a primary source of motivation for me. It could be an incentive but never a motivator. I desire fair compensation because I need to earn a living. Research indicates that there is no correlation between compensation and productivity.

I derive intrinsic motivation from autonomy, mastery, learning, belonging, and purpose. I did not need a medical diagnosis to confirm that the stress and anxiety symptoms that overwhelmed me during my career affected my emotional health. I had the opportunity to hang in there, get acquired by Union Bank, and assume the executive director position in one of the biggest banks of that era, but I resigned. If money had been my primary motivator, my decision would have been different. Money has a connotation of being fleeting and transactional. I believe in enduring relationship building.

I always seek avenues and opportunities to assist others in need both in and out of the workplace. I was motivated by recognizing my skills, honesty, loyalty, and integrity in the workplace. A healthy and inclusive work environment that fosters career development and growth was more appealing to me. I wouldn’t say I like a toxic work environment laden with anger, distrust, and hatred.  My desire and commitment to aid the less privileged people in our community have been consistent outside the workplace. I derive joy and motivation from that.

Traditionally, misfortunes were factored into the plans and prospects of my ancestors. They believed that mishaps must occur as a natural phenomenon. When a predetermined period elapses without the occurrence of misfortune, they conclude that a catastrophe of unexpected dimensions was on the horizon. They made sacrifices to appease the gods, assuage their anger, and prevent potential disaster.

I have had my fair share of misfortunes. My daughters and their friends arrived in Nigeria from the United States and other cities in Nigeria in December 2018 for the traditional wedding of my daughter Linda. It was scheduled for January 12, 2019. We had a whole house of excited people. Arrangements were concluded to move from Owerri, where we were staying, to the event venue in my hometown on January 11, 2019. When I got up early that morning, I observed that some of our belongings had been repositioned. I aroused the entire household. Robbers had sneaked into the house while we slept and stolen jewelry, laptops, mobile phones, money, credit cards, etc. Fortunately, there was no encounter, and nobody was hurt.

While shopping in a mall at Ajah, a suburb near my residence in Lagos, I was accosted by some young but daring armed robbers in broad daylight. I did not appreciate the severity of the situation until one of them branded a pistol and forcibly demanded my cooperation. I was forced to part with my purse and its valuable contents. The robber also collected the keys to my car, parked down the road, and shoved me into a waiting minibus. A few other persons were lying on the bus floor, so I was compelled to lay on top of them. The armed robber who had accosted me later came to ask where my car was parked, and I pointed the location to him. As soon as he left, I eloped from the bus and hid in a shop that was under construction. I came out later to find that they had gone with the other captives in the minibus. Fortunately, they could not take my car, probably because of the security system.