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Tony Elumelu @ 61: Marking Another Milestone

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Tony Elumelu
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By Chidiebere Nwobodo

The unit of life is time. And life is like a leaf of plain white paper you decide what to write on it. This philosophy defined Tony Elumelu’s teenage years.

Tony Elumelu @ 61: Marking Another Milestone

Tony Elumelu

Then young Tony set out to discover not only what the future holds for him but to design it, which exemplifies Abraham Lincoln’s postulation that the best way to predict the future is to create it.

He did not wait for life to happen to him—he happened to life!

Sixty-one years on the voyage of life, riding tides in turbulent ocean of the universe, like great Michelangelo, Tony Elumelu has not only carved and painted his “tomorrow” but has become a paragon of success story for young entrepreneurs to copy. His impact in modelling young entrepreneurs has reverberated across Africa via Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).

He is a private sector leader cum shrewd investor with investments in key sectors of the African economy through Heirs Holdings, Transcorp Group, UBA Group, etcetera.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created by this entrepreneurial maven. At an early stage, with an eagle-eyed focus, he was poised to achieve greatness in life.

He could not allow any perceived disadvantage to weaken his resolve to rise from nadir of obscurity to olympian cliff of fame. Like Arthur C. Clarke said: “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible”.

Tony Elumelu, as a pacesetter, believes that impossible is just a word. At 34, he was already chief executive officer of defunct Standard Trust Bank and one of the youngest bank CEOs in Nigeria.

Stories of reforms and revolution of African banking industry cannot be complete without outlining his sterling efforts towards positioning African banking industry to compete with the rest of the world.

His indelible footprints of success as chief executive of United Bank of Africa (UBA), will remain a revered point of reference for ages to come.

Tony Elumelu’s ten-year visionary leadership at UBA positioned the Bank as leading 21st century mega bank in the continent, with over 20 million active customers, 30,000 employees, and 1,000 branches across 20 countries of Africa.

When Americans brag with behemoths like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Europeans pride in leviathans like Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG, Africans glow in the UBA Group—all thanks to Tony O. Elumelu, CFR. The man who created his “tomorrow”.

In 2010, he retired as chief executive officer of the UBA Group and founded Heirs Holdings and The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).

Beyond banking industry, Tony Elumelu has straddled the divide of hospitality industry. His spirit of excellence can be seen in Transcorp Hillton, Abuja, a five-star hotel located at the heart of the Nigeria’s capital, where he has controlling interest.

As the billionaire entrepreneur is graciously cerebrating his 61th birthday, the life of Tony O. Elumelu has become another proof that repeated excellence heralds greatness.

It exudes a purpose driven life anchored on eternal philosophy, that life is not an accident, which implies that for anyone to be great you have to set out for it with laser-focused vision and purpose-driven passion.

Tony O. Elumelu is the father of Africapiltalism—an economic philosophy hedged on optimizing power of capitalism via entrepreneurship to liberate Africa from the shackles and hackles of multidimensional poverty and crass underdevelopment.

Being one of the Forbes’ recognized richest people in Africa, In 2020, he was honoured amongst Times Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Despite achieving giant strides and reaching lofty milestones in life, the Delta-born business guru has never downplayed the place of grace in his meteoric rise to stardom.

On several platforms, with sense of humility and humour, he has narrated how luck—or what can be called favour, mixed with dint of hard work, contributed immensely to his projectile growth from being just a corp member at Union Bank, to emerging as one of the youngest CEOs of commercial banks, to chairing one of the largest banking conglomerates in Africa.

He has asked this philosophical but rhetorical question in one of his public outings: “Am I blessed or am I lucky?”. I will try to answer it. Tony O. Elumelu is both blessed and lucky. Everything about him bespeak blessings. His body language acknowledges biblical expository that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong but to him God shows mercy.

It takes unparalleled humility and a deep understanding of the role of the supernatural in the affairs of men, for a billionaire who has attained height of success to openly acknowledge the place of luck in his success story. This is one of the great attributes that stands out Tony O. Elumelu.

Despite his hard work and sacrifices to get to his enviable status today, he has always acknowledged that he is a blessed and lucky person. His philanthropic strides and gestures are driven by this belief that he is just a custodian of wealth meant to better humanity.

A school of thought says: “what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains, and is immortal”. This is the ideology that gave birth to Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), and transformed Onyemaechi—the founder, from being just a human to a humanitarian.

Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), in the last decade has done marvellously well to empower over 16,000 young entrepreneurs across 54 countries in Africa, through training, mentoring and funding them with start-up capital of $5,000 each. In 2015, the Foundation launched an “Entrepreneurship Programme”, a $100 million intervention to empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs over the next ten years. Elumelu’s passion for young entrepreneurs is not only unequalled but contagious. Global bodies like UNDP, UNCDF, AfDB, Red Cross, etcetera, have all identified with the Foundation via partnership.

Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, as an advocate of Africapitalism, and who is fondly called the King of soft life, admonishes that next frontier of Africa’s wealth will be in entrepreneurial quest of her youths. We cannot keep watching African youths risk and waste their lives trying to cross Sahara desert and Mediterranean Sea to search for greener pasture in the developed world.

As he marks another birthday milestone, I choose to celebrate his impactful journey so far on the lives of African youth. There is a school of thought that encourages us to celebrate lives of those who have become exemplary in order to get others in the society to emulate such virtues.

    Nwobodo, a public analyst, writes from Abuja


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DBN Awards N13m in Grants to Tech Startups

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Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has awarded a total of N13 million in grants to three standout tech startups at the 2025 Techpreneur Summit held in Lagos, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and inclusive growth among Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

DBN Awards N13m in Grants to Tech Startups

The winners include: BuyScrap, a digital marketplace for recyclable materials – N6 million; Qiqi Farms, which connects local farmers to hospitality and export markets – N4 million; Eco-Cyclers, a youth-led recycling initiative based in Enugu – N3 million

Alongside the grant awards, DBN also launched a new digital data asset, a first-of-its-kind platform aimed at enabling data-driven decisions within the MSME ecosystem.

The platform offers deep insights into business trends, sector-specific challenges, and growth opportunities—supporting smarter policymaking and targeted investments.

In his keynote address in Lagos, Tony Okpanachi, managing director/ CEO, DBN,   described the event’s theme, “CTRL + SHIFT: Tech Empowered Movement for Naija,” as a strategic call to reimagine enterprise development in Nigeria.

“This isn’t just a keyboard shortcut,” he said. “It’s a mindset reset—powered by technology—to build a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient business landscape. From financing to innovation, DBN remains committed to enabling MSMEs to thrive.”

Okpanachi emphasized that the Summit aligns with DBN’s AMPLIFI Strategy, which integrates digital transformation, sustainability, and scalability into its core programs.

He highlighted initiatives such as the Digital Shift Workshops and the Eco-Innovation Challenge as key steps toward embedding innovation in Nigeria’s MSME sector.

Encouraging young innovators, he added: “The future belongs to those bold enough to imagine and build it. DBN is proud to support the ideas that will shape tomorrow.”

A major highlight was the unveiling of the DBN Data Asset—a digital platform designed to provide real-time, evidence-based insights into Nigeria’s MSME landscape.

The platform combines DBN’s proprietary data with external sources like the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to offer a comprehensive view of MSME performance by region and sector.

Jeremy Dan Okayi, DBN’s Head of Strategy, Policy & Innovation, described the platform as: “A reservoir of insight, potential, and direction—built on two years of collaboration and shared vision. This tool will support informed decision-making across the public and private sectors.”


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FCCPC Shuts France, Belgium, and Italy Visa Centres in Abuja Over Alleged Consumer Rights Violations

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In a bold enforcement action, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), supported by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has sealed off the visa application centres of France, Belgium, and Italy in Abuja over alleged consumer protection breaches and obstruction of regulatory investigations.

The affected centres—located at Mukhtar El-Yakub House in the Central Business District and operated by TLS Contact, a Teleperformance Company—were shut down following reports that they refused to accept formal correspondence from the FCCPC regarding a consumer complaint. The Commission cited further infractions, including obstruction of investigation and alleged assault of its officers during lawful duties.

Speaking to journalists at the scene, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, Director of Surveillance and Investigations at the FCCPC, explained: “This is an enforcement operation against TLS. On March 25, 2025, we served them a letter to address a consumer complaint, which they refused to accept. Instead, TLS officers assaulted our team, and in a subsequent visit on June 17, they also allegedly assaulted uniformed police officers.”

Citing Section 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), Mrs. Adeyinka emphasized that failure to comply with Commission directives constitutes a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment, fines of up to ₦20 million, or both.

TLS has been ordered to appear before the Commission on June 20, 2025, to provide testimony, submit evidence, and make formal depositions. The company may be held liable for any financial losses suffered by applicants due to the disruption of visa services.

Despite multiple requests for comment, management at TLS Contact declined to respond as of press time.


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How and Why N210 Trillion is Missing in NNPCL – CFO

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Adedapo Segun, chief financial officer (CFO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has explained why there is a missing sum of N210 trillion in the company’s audited financial statement spanning from 2017 to 2023.

How and Why N210 Trillion is Missing in NNPCL - CFO

According to Segun, the missing funds are cash calls requested by joint venture (JV) partners and settlement to the JVs.

He spokeat a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada.

Segun was responding to an alarm raised by the committee over missing N210 trillion in NNPCL’s audited financial statement.

Recall that Wadada issued a one-week ultimatum to NNPCL to account for the missing N210 trillion.

Reacting, Segun said, “The N103 trillion and N107 trillion are made up of joint venture cash calls that have been requested by the JV operators and JV cash call payments made by NNPCL, which are yet to be reconciled because governance procedures were not done at that time.

“That is why you see the description reflecting those two items would be washed out because they are two sides of the same transaction, which is the cash calls by JV partners and the settlement by NNPCL.”

However,  Habu Sadeik, a financial analyst, in a post on X on Thursday, said Segun’s response was unsatisfactory.

Saidik faulted NNPCL’s response about the fund discrepancies, noting that something is not right with the audited financial statement.

“Forget about the senators’ lack of knowledge.

“The CFO’s response is not satisfactory. Are you saying that cash calls worth hundreds of trillions are just appearing on your FS only in 2024 without 31 disclosure?

“If it’s a cash call, why hasn’t the disclosure said so?

“Which cash call is over 100 trillion?

“Something is definitely not right, and I hope they retrospectively correct that FS.

“Someone somewhere did a chef’s work,” he wrote on X.

 

 


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