Subomi Balogun: At 88, I’m Not Tired, Still Have Lots to Accomplish

The Founder, FCMB, Otunba Michael Olasubomi Balogun in this interview that took place few days to his 88^th birthday stressed that his life has been a miracle, adding that his path from youth had been divinely ordered. Dike Onwuamaeze brings the excerpts:

When you started out as young entrepreneur many years ago, you had some ambitions. But your businesses seem to have gone beyond your expectations. How do you feel about this sir?

 It makes me humble. As I have always said, God is my guide and consummate supporter. I started out as a stockbroker and with due appreciation to my God, I was the first Nigerian to single-handedly set up a stockbroking firm, just as I was also the first Nigerian to set-up a merchant bank. I call it the grace of God.

Let me tell you one thing. A very well-known Nigerian who runs a financial institution, in fact, a conglomerate, once came to me and said, sir, you hardly speak for one or two minutes without referring to your God, and I smiled and said, you have said it all. Let me tell you a secret, all the businesses I have established, the good Lord had suggested them to me, and I have always been a pioneer. May be you didn’t know that I only trained as a lawyer.

Subsequently, the government of the then Western Region trained me in the British Parliament to be a parliamentary draftsman. When ultimately the government of Nigeria, in fact, the leader of the Central Bank decided to set-up a development bank, and brought in the World Bank as their partner, I was just in my place when a very good friend, Gamaliel Onosede (may his soul rest in peace) came to my house (I was then living at Glover Road, Ikoyi) and said “Mike, there’s this development bank being set-up by the government and the World Bank. I am sure they will need a legal draftsman to be drafting agreements. Given your background and the fact that you seem to be multifaceted in your different interests, I think this could be a situation that will open your eyes to so many things.” He asked me to apply for that job, and I did. When we were called for interview, there were about 25 lawyers. I didn’t know what it was all about, but being a lawyer and draftsman, something just occurred to me.  I had a boss in the Federal Ministry of Justice; he called me and said I pray you get the job you’re going for, because it will catapult you beyond your expectations to heights that you do not expect.

I said,
“sir, it’s just a bank,” but he said no, “it’s a Development Bank, and they have all sorts of branches.” The one he thought would interest me would be the activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange; selling stocks, in addition to putting companies up for the sales of their shares. When he finished talking, I just said, thank you big brother. So I went for the interview. I was still very young, and at about the age of 30 years, I had acquired a lot of experience.

When the government of Western Region was training me for parliamentary draftsmanship, in addition to the British parliament, I was sent to the City of London to train in legal drafting, so that I would not just be drafting law, but also agreements. So with all that, even though I was just a lawyer, I was keeping my ears and my interest open.

In those days, if anybody was doing anything that had to do with economic development and finance, I would go on the Nigerian Television to talk about it. The venerated Mike Omolayode used to have a programme. I was always seen on that programme. A lot of business people usually watch that programme. It was to the extent that some of my friends would say, “eh! Mike, I thought you only read law, what have you got to do with finance?” I said it’s just one of those things. So many lawyers came for that interview and out of 25, I was picked. And for the life of me, I didn’t know anybody on the panel. 

The chairman who is now my mentor, Chief Chris Ogunbajo, was so impressed about my performance that he telephoned a neighbour of his, Mr T. K Seiko, a lawyer, and said “that your Lagos friend, the Lagos boy, Subomi is very brilliant – he was easily the best of the lawyers and we are going to recommend him.” So the late T.K Seiko telephoned me and said, “Subomi, we have just been talking about you. Do you know Chris Ogunbajo? He’s just been saying that you came for an interview and from the number of lawyers that attended, you’re simply the best, and they’re going to recommend you.” So I said, “is it possible for you to introduce me to him, I will drive from Broad Street to come and see him?” And he said I should come. So I drove in my Peugeot and got there.

I met the late Chief Ogunbanjo, my God’s chosen mentor, and he said to me, “I didn’t know you’re an Ijebu, I thought you were a Lagos boy, and I said no sir, I am an Ijebu.” He said, “well, you came for an interview and I was the chairman of the panel, I believe we’re going to recommend you.” I said thank you sir, and left. So, in my early thirties, I got another big job in a financial institution – the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB). Not long after that, the NIBD decided to send me to the World Bank in Washington and also to Wall Street in New York, and I felt it was an opening.

There, I met distinguished lawyers who were heading stockbroking firms. I met investment bankers who were there. When I returned from my training, I went to my bosses and said we should have an investment bank as our subsidiary to be raising money and doing other things. It took them some time to accept. I didn’t know what their reason was. Maybe they thought I was ambitious, but God has his ways of opening doors for me.

Suddenly, I was invited with another candidate, a chartered accountant and the first Nigerian woman to be trained as a chartered accountant, the late Mrs. Olutoyin Olakunri, and our bosses told us that both of us would be doing something about Icon Securities. All these were preparations that were being divinely made. I was just being someone who wanted to do everything by nature. So whenever I arrived at anywhere activities were going on, I showed interest.  Let me tell you something: as human beings, we wish for something, but it is the good Lord that decides what will ultimately happen.  So one day I called my wife and said I wanted to resign and after resigning, I decided to set-up a stockbroking firm. Why I keep referring to God is that the good Lord has done wonderful things around me. I only trained as a lawyer, I keep on saying that. I incorporated my own company known as City Securities and when many friends asked me who my partners were, I said my God. So I set-up a stockbroking firm and gravitated to capital issues. I handled the sale of UAC, Daily Times, and many others. I was the one who first brought in Coca Cola into the market. Then, during the Nigerian Indigenisation Programme, there were four oil marketing companies. I handled three of them – Mobil, Texaco, and Total, except BP. Everybody was wondering what’s happening, and quite frankly, it was all miracle to me. And that’s why I have devoted my life to continue thanking my God and praising him.

Most of the things that have happened to me were divinely ordered, and for the rest of my life, even in eternity, continue appreciating my God.

City Securities was born, and went I had succeeded selling everybody’s shares, I said to myself why don’t I set-up a bank? And one of two people in the Central Bank said I was crazy. In anyway, God was projecting me and I was going. So I applied for a banking licence, single-handedly. And my licence was refused initially and we later got it.

When you established the bank, were there challenges and if yes, how were you able to navigate the thorns?

I have a childish habit. Any time I want to do something, I would write it down and put it inside the Bible in my altar; I would be asking God just like I said when I wanted to start everything: “My God, show me the way.  Don’t let me make wrong choices.” I would just throw myself into the arms of my maker and tell Him to help me. My whole life is a wonder to me. And I am saying it again, I only had a degree in law, but the ideas are just coming. When you talk of FCMB, I was the first to conceive the idea of Group structure. We had what I call a financial supermarket. I had a stockbroking company, a capital issue company and then we set-up the bank itself. And after that, I had an asset management company, pension management, etc. All the companies, I call them First City Group, and recently we changed the name to FCMB Group.

To be honest with you, I admit that I am not the one doing all this, the ideas just come to me and I don’t understand.  So I am spending the rest of my life just thanking my God and doing anything that the good Lord will guide me do.

As regard challenges, I will say no one is greater than God. Once you embrace your God, whatever challenges you have would be subsumed in the divine achievements. For example, as I said earlier on, when we wanted a licence, someone said don’t give it to him, he is a friend of Awolowo. But I prefer talking about what God has done for me rather than telling the challenges.

And at 88, I am not tired. I am still wearing suits like you youngmen, because I believe the good Lord still has a lot of work to give me to do. So I have dedicated my life to serving Him.

As a pioneer in this industry given what the economy is like now. What do you think can be done?

I try not to talk about what somebody is doing right or wrong. Rather, I spend my quality time praying for this country. I tell you something, whenever I kneel down to pray, I, first of all, thank my God. Then I thank him for what he has done for my wife, my family, my children, the FCMB Group, then to my neighbours, and then ask God to bless Nigeria. That’s the routine I go through every day, I don’t dabble into that because ultimately, God does what he wants to do.

In fact, when I was young, I remember I wrote a paper which I gave General Ibrahim Babangida about whether to devalue the naira or not. I did it because it was like I received a vision. Today, I can only pray that it shall be well with the country because this country belongs to all of us.

Do you see fintech companies as a threat to commercial banks?

Every bank is expanding into different businesses. Quite a lot of banks have diversified into pension funds management. And technology has been a critical instrument. In our own case, capital market and normal banking will meet together. If you are trying to raise money from the capital market, we have a company that handles that, if you want to buy shares from the Stock Exchange, we have. And if you want to go into real banking, even mortgages, even as we speak, our bank is trying to help people who want to get their own homes, so we are doing everything. That was why I said I conceived the idea of Group structure and with a due sense of modesty, I think I would be one of the people who first started the idea of Group. I called it First City Group.  There are a lot of avenues a bank or a financial institution can go into.  And I am encouraging the younger bankers not just to limit their activities to core banking but to go into different aspects of financial services. Truth is that what I would call financial assistance to communities is very wide, which may include what is today expressed as financial inclusion, where technology has become the vehicle. Fintech companies are merely complementing what the traditional institutions had first started. FCMB this morning, I read in the newspapersor instance, is asking people to come take money, to build their own houses, we’re getting strong into pensions, we’re asking for assets to be managed for us, we’re trying to be financial advisers. That was the idea I had, I call it financial supermarket.

Any igneous banker would not just stay in mundane banking.

For instance, if you go on the streets of Lagos, you will see some locals selling dollars. Some institutions have institutionalised this and added it to their banking.

Let me emphasised this, there’s no end to what you can do with financial services, not just banking alone. There is hardly nothing that is not within the financial services today, which we generally call banking.

I started as a capital market man and I still recall people calling me ‘Colossus’, the ‘Grandmaster’ because I dabbled into many things. I was always seen in the market. The one thing I am thankful to God for is that he has always made me a multifaceted businessman. Young CEOs should go beyond mundane banking, they should extend their tentacles, buy into other companies by acquiring their shares. 

Every year in commemoration of your birthday, you always have a project to tell God, thank you. This year, what is that project you want to give to humanity?

Yes, that’s true. First of all, I want to thank my God for sparing my life. But please forgive me; I like to do my things quietly. The good Lord will continue to spare our lives. I have not finished with what God has directed me for do to my neighbours. I am here to serve my God and my neighbours. I have a lot of ideas and I am going on doing them. Out of the blues, about two years ago, the University of Ibadan decided to name their conference centre and hotel in my name. I have even forgotten what I did there. I think I am subdued by the overwhelming manifestation of God’s love and all I want to be doing is praising and thanking my God for letting me do what I have been doing.  And one of the things I am always afraid of, is when I talk too much, they would say, he is always calling God as if that God belongs to him alone. But I have my reasons. My whole life is a manifestation of exceeding love, and I have dedicated myself to serving Him for the rest of my life. I pray to God, He is not inviting me yet.

You had a friend who went into politics and eventually became vice president, Alex Ekwueme, why were you never attracted to politics?

No! I think I was being divinely propelled. I was close to Baba Awolowo, and to many people in government, including the attorney-general who opposed my licence, because he said in their council meeting, “if you give that man licence, an election is coming, he’s going to support Awolowo.” I have written all these in my book. God knows the best.

You once said you love swimming, now at 88, do you still swim?

By the grace of the almighty God, every home I have built, I have always had a swimming pool because I have been anticipating that by the time I get old, I will not be able to amble around, as I normally do. The one thing that has actually assisted me apart from the grace of the almighty God, is that I have been a bit restless. I try to exercise every part of my body and my cerebral capacities. Having a swimming pool is one exercise you can go into and without much stress, you can stretch your limbs because the gravity in the water will reduce the amount of energy you have to put in, but it’s still very effective, even more effective than strolling. I have always had the ambition that I will live long, and so far, the good Lord has been with me.