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.