TOE’s Way… Or No Way?

FACTFILE with Lanre Alfred

…truth behind the headlines, conspiracies, cover-ups, trials and triumphs

Let’s not pretend that Tony OnyemaechiElumelu is like the rest. I had always known him to be different. He doesn’t behave like your typical Nigerian tycoon. There’s no chaotic flamboyance, no noisy detours into political spectacle. Instead, there is an obsession with legacy. A self-scripted gospel of Africapitalism that he evangelises like a preacher with boardroom cadence. For Elumelu, banking is not about numbers. It’s about narrative.

To be candid, he has turned his portfolio into a choreography of purpose: UBA as the spine, Heirs Holdings as the brain, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) as the beating heart. All of it, moving to one tune: the TOE tempo.

So when he swept up 1.27 billion additional UBA shares valued at $27.7 million, in May, raising his stake to a commanding 3.81 billion, I’d say, he wasn’t flexing. He was simply fortifying. UBA’s capital raise is imminent, N500 billion ($315 million), no less, and Elumelu is making sure dilution isn’t a word in his dictionary. I see a man isn’t  just protecting equity but an ideology. Because UBA is not just his bank, it’s his broadcast signal to the world that Africa’s financial awakening must be African-led, African-owned, and unmistakably African in identity.

His latest high-stakes manoeuvre? I’d call  it what it is: an audacious bet on his own crown jewel, United Bank for Africa (UBA). While this move, in my opinion, may raise eyebrows, it will tighten boardroom collars, and reinforce what some of us have long suspected: Tony is not in the business of reacting; he is in the business of preempting.

This wasn’t just an investment. It was a power play. A statement. A declaration that no matter the tides, regulatory shifts, economic headwinds, or global investor courtships, Elumelu is in charge. And he’s staying that way. Say, I said so.

But to understand this move is to understand the man. Not the myth they write about in corporate memos. The man. The one who cannot stand a full stop when there’s more story to write. The one who keeps circling back to the same canvas, banking, business, Africa because he knows perfection is not a destination but a pursuit.

Like I’d always say, what makes Tony’s move even more riveting is the context. This is not a season of economic comfort. Nigeria is dealing with an inflation hangover. Investors are anxious. Capital is skittish. But Elumelu? He doubles down. He buys big.

Why? Because the man does not outsource belief. He is his own conviction. And he will keep raising the stakes until his vision is no longer an idea, but an institution.

Call it what you will, control, foresight, obsession. The truth is that Tony Elumelu doesn’t want to win in the conventional sense. A long time ago, I noticed his  penchant for defining the rules of winning. I see a man who wants to build systems that cannot ignore him. So when the Central Bank whispers capital compliance, Tony roars with cash and control.

This isn’t just banking strategy. It’s succession planning for influence. It’s an insurance policy on legacy. Because if UBA is the continent’s banking blueprint, then Elumelu is the draftsman, fiercely unwilling to let another hand smudge his design.

There’s a certain theatricality to the way Elumelu moves through the world: sharp suits, sharper instincts, and that perennial glint in his eyes, equal parts mischief and mission. And if you’ve ever mistaken his polished charm for stillness, think again. Tony Elumelu is not still. He is restless, ever-reckoning, ever-reshaping his destiny and ours. Because in his world, movement is not progress unless it’s transformative. That is TOE’s Way. And for him, it’s the only way.

There’s something fascinating—almost contradictory—about how Tony wears power. He drips with it, yes, but he doesn’t flaunt it. He curates it. And perhaps that’s why he sits so comfortably in rooms where ego is currency.

In Gabon recently, he was awarded the Commandeurdansl’ordre national du méritegabonais, the country’s highest national honour. The air was thick with ceremony, but what the cameras didn’t catch was what that moment symbolised: a continent looking into the mirror and seeing a version of itself it could be proud of. Tony was not just receiving an award. He was being acknowledged as Africa’s most patient architect.

Because while others chase applause, Elumelu builds institutions. TEF has empowered over 18,000 entrepreneurs across 54 African countries. UBA operates in 20 African nations and five global financial capitals. Heirs Holdings is quietly taking over the energy corridors of West Africa. This is not a tycoon. This is a tactician.

And yet, beneath the empire is the obsession. Elumelu cannot rest. He does not idle. He reinvents, reinvests, retakes. It’s not because he needs more, it’s because he believes Africa deserves more. And he will not sleep until it gets it.

Let’s return to UBA. There’s a deeper layer to his billion-dollar diamond stake than meets the eye. With a capital raise looming and a continent-wide banking revolution in full swing, the risk of losing narrative control is real. But Tony has never been comfortable being a passive player in someone else’s story.

So he steps in, steps up, and writes another chapter. By tightening his grip on UBA, he makes it clear: this isn’t a bank open to corporate raiders or foreign dilution. This is a fortress, guarded by a man who knows what happens when legacy is left to chance.

Because control, for Tony, isn’t about domination. It’s about direction. And no matter what the market does, he intends to steer.

What sets Elumelu apart isn’t just his success. It’s the quietude of it all. In a world obsessed with noise, he thrives in the margins. He doesn’t trend on social media for showmanship. He trends in impact. A headline in TIME.A plaque in Libreville.A loan to a farmer in Kano. That’s the rhythm of his empire.

And maybe that’s the secret: Tony Elumelu doesn’t build for applause. He builds for aftershocks. The kind that ripple across generations. The kind that make young Africans believe they can rewrite their destiny without changing their geography.

Some say TOE’s greatest strength is vision. Others say it’s resilience. But those of us watching closely know it’s neither. It’s restlessness. The kind that won’t let him sit back.The kind that sees every milestone as a starting line.

That restlessness is what powers TEF’s continuous rollout of seed capital. It’s what pushes Heirs Holdings into uncharted terrains. It’s what compelled him to break the rules of traditional banking and redraw the map.

In my candid opinion, Tony Elumelu is not in business to be remembered. He is in business to remake memory itself. To rewire how Africa thinks of money, power, and promise.

And perhaps that is why, in this most recent move with UBA, he seems more urgent than ever. Not because time is running out, but because his dream is catching fire.

TOE’s Way, the Only Way

It’s easy to dismiss all this as ego. But that would be a shallow read of a deep play. Tony Elumelu’s every move is layered: business on the surface, belief beneath. With each stake he increases, each entrepreneur he empowers, each boardroom he reshapes, he’s broadcasting the same message:

Africa will not be defined by its struggles, but by its strivers.

And in that gospel, there is no space for complacency. Only conviction.

So when people ask, “Why is Tony Elumelu buying more of a bank he already controls?” the answer is simple.

Because he’s not done.Because the work isn’t done.

Because TOE’s way isn’t just one way.

It’s the only way.