By Chidiebere Nwobodo
“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” — Muhammad Ali
Great achievers have one attribute in common; imaginative power.
There is a school of thought that espoused this philosophy that after God finished creating man, He transferred to mankind the first instrument of creation—imagination. Anthony Onyemachi Elumelu, CFR, embodied this trait of imaginative spirit to a great extent. Like an indelible mark, he has imprinted it across the length and breath of endeavors he has transversed in the last 62 years so far of his voyage on earth.
I understood how powerful and redefining imaginative ability could be when I read one of the stories of renowned Italian sculptor, painter and poet of the high renaissance, Michelangelo. The story was brilliantly elucidated in Robert Green’s 48 Laws of Power. It was about seeing opportunities where others perceived obstacles. It is using mental power to create imaginative pathways of greatness because success is a journey and not a destination.
Robert Green, in his famous book, enumerated how Michelangelo was tasked with sculpting a statue of biblical David from a large, flawed piece of marble that had been deemed ruined by previous artist. Despite the imperfections, Michelangelo saw potential in the flawed slab and transformed it into a masterpiece that continues to inspire till date. It was a story that illustrates the concept of finding imaginative power and turning limitations cum problems into opportunities.
Centuries after its progenitor had gone, ideology of Michelangelo metaphorically crossed Mediterranean sea, anchored itself on West Africa where it reincarnated in Tony Elumelu who was born on March 22, 1963. 62 years after he was birthed, Tony Elumelu, using imaginative power like Michelangelo, made his potential find expression in Nigeria economic hemisphere, where he saw challenges and envisioned them into opportunities. Encountered doubts in the midst of problems but refused to give up, instead carved wealth out of “ruined marbles”, reminiscent of Michelangelo.
As a young graduate out of the university, he rejected delusional fantasies, faced reality while holding on to his vision as encapsulated by his imagination. He had at the back of his mind the popular saying: “If you snooze you lose”. As a serving corps member, attached to one of the branches of Union Bank, Tony Elumelu had the premonition that the marble of his destiny and its attendant sculpting tools had been handed to him by Grand Architect of the Universe, God, to carve his future like Michelangelo did to that ruined marble which became magnificent statue of David.
Tony, began his career sojourn believing in the eternal words of Pablo Picasso, Spanish sculptor and painter, that everything you can imagine is real. He started making giant strides in the banking industry to the extent that at age 34, he was already chief executive officer of defunct Standard Trust Bank; making him the youngest chief executive officer of a bank in Nigeria. A feat that has not been outclassed till date. There came banking consolidation policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that quaked the sector.
In the midst of uncertainties in the industry created by the reforms, Tony Elumelu did not press the panic bottom or join club of wailing wailers, rather, he took the words of Steve Jobs— “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat”. Like Michelangelo, he gazed at the reforms sweeping across the industry as hurricane, carved out opportunities in the uncertainties.
Like a skilled sailor, he did not move against the tide, he rode on the waves to emerge at the top of the nation’s banking industry, where he called the shots as chief executive officer of United Bank of Africa (UBA) for consecutive ten years! Tony’s sterling leadership at the UBA has transformed the financial industry from a hitherto struggling old generation bank to a 21st century banking leviathan, financial powerhouse, with over 20 million active customers, 30,000 employees and 1,000 branches across 20 countries of the world.
He had a successful run as chief executive officer of UBA until another policy of the government closed curtains on that season. As usual, Tony Elumelu did not lament or turn into a vile critic, rather, like someone on the same ideological wavelength of Steve Jobs, he saw the change as an opportunity to expand his portfolio and not a threat to his meteroic rise to stardom. As a result of this development, Heirs Holdings was born and Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) came to life.
As an entrepreneurial maven and one of the richest men in Africa, Tony Elumelu’s portfolio spans different sectors: power, oil, gas, financial services, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, and technology sectors, respectively, etc, with visible presence across 24 countries. Recently, Money Central, a financial news platform, broke the story that the Delta-born investor had joined club of dollar-denominated billionaires valued at $2.1 billion dollars.
Despite his growing influence and affluence across economic landscape of Africa and beyond which got him renowned as the father of Africapitalism, Tony Elumelu maintains a demeanor of humility and simplicity. He does not attribute his achievements to personal efforts alone. He believes that there is an element of luck—what Christendom references as grace, in catapulting him to olympic height he occupies today.
He was quoted as saying: “I believe in luck because I’m a product of it. When I started my career, I got a job I applied for despite not meeting the advertised criteria. That was luck at play, but I also believed that I was good enough to make a difference, so I offered myself. Luck was what made my boss at the time read my application letter.” The mere acknowledgement of the place of luck (grace) in orchestrating events on his paths to greatness, is a huge display of humility.
This is one of the traits that makes Tony Elumelu different from other rich and influential people from this clime and major reason he set out to give young aspiring entrepreneurs opportunities to convert their imagination to reality; ideas to businesses through Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).
As an exemplar of deep philosophy of life, despite being a master at strategic positioning, Tony’s ideal postulates that you cannot plot your way all through to success without running into junctions of uncertainties at some points in your quest for self actualization. And this is where “luck” or grace comes in, to navigate one beyond uncertainties.
It resonates with ‘Uncertainty Principle’ in quantum physics, propagated by a German scientist, Werner Heisenberg, which states that it is scientifically impossible to determine position and momentum of a particle simultaneously, because there must be uncertainty error. The more precisely you gets one, the more uncertain the other becomes.
When juxtapose with life experiences, it is that X-factor called luck (grace) that takes care of uncertainties of life—things beyond our control, especially after we must have done our bits as humans.
Tony Elumelu was right. It is rare to see a billionaire in his category acknowledge this element of divinity in his life. Tony Elumelu Foundation was born out of this philosophy to give back to humanity: to extend a helping hand to up-and-coming entrepreneurial explorers in search of business success.
As a pathfinder, Tony Elumelu has become navigational tool providing leadership and support to aspiring entrepreneurs across Africa via TEF to those whose ambition is to create wealth and share prosperity. He is prolific philanthropist and founder of Africa’s leading philanthropy dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs.
At the Foundation, each selected beneficiary called Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, is given a non-refundable seed capital of $5000, world-class business training on TEFConnect, one-on-one mentorship, and access to global networks and investment opportunities. In the last few years, empowered Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs have collectively created over 1.5 million jobs and generated $4.2 billion in revenue powered by emerging businesses.
As a custom, Tony Elumelu’s birthday, March 22, is dedicated to announcing next set of beneficiaries of the $5000 seed capital. Therefore, usually, Tony marks his birthday by putting smiles on the faces of people, reaching out to the less privileged, empowering young entrepreneurs to go into the world of business and unleash their potentials.
Aristotle opined that unexamined life is not worth living. Tony’s life in the last 62 years has been exemplifying, inspiring and impactful. It is a life propelled by imaginative power, sheer ingenuity, grace and philanthropy. As he marks another milestone, my warmest birthday wishes.
Chidiebere wrote via [email protected]
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