Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, has said that he thought he would die before deceased CEO of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe.
According to him, he established a trust fund he put in Wigwe’s care hoping the banker who died in a plane crash would help use in educating his children after he (Sanusi) might have gone.
Sanusi made this known at the continuation of the night of tributes organised in Wigwe’s honour in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said Wigwe was very good to him, noting that he came to his aid when he was dethroned, offering the private jet that took he and his family to Lagos and providing him with accommodation till the present.
Sanusi then recalled how he entrusted his life savings to Wigwe.
He revealed that this was because he (Sanusi) thought he was going to die before him (Wigwe).
“About two years ago, I put all my savings into a Trust for the education of my children, I have many and my priority as a father is to make sure that when I pass away, they will have a good education.
“I told Herbert, ‘I am placing you in charge of this Trust for the education of my children because I know that even if I die and do not leave any money, you will educate my children.
“I thought I would die before Herbert”, he revealed.
Sanusi who was comforted by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, Aig-Imoukhuede and an aide as a result of his failure to control the tears which continued to flow from his eyes, added that because of the level of kindness Wigwe accorded him, many believed he owned Access Bank, while he (Wigwe) and Aig-Imoukhuede were his proxies.
“On the day before this happened, I was on a chat group when somebody made a few remarks about Herbert that I found offensive and I defended Herbert. I made my point very clear that this was unacceptable.
“A few days after Herbert died; a friend called me and sent me a message. He sent a message to Herbert at about 3:20 am that morning (the day of the crash), telling him how I had stood up and defended him and forwarded my entire message to him. ‘Herbert replied at 3:28 am with one word ‘unbelievable’. He sent another message at 3:50 which was not delivered. From the presentation from the air traffic controllers, the crash happened at 3:30. So possibly, the last thing Herbert read was my message talking about him,” he added.
