President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.); Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), as well as other prominent Nigerians on Saturday bade the late founder of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Otunba Michael Olasubomi Balogun, farewell as he was laid to rest.
Balogun died on the 18th of May in London following a brief illness aged 89. He was interred in Ijebu Ode after befitting funeral service that had in attendance dignitaries from all works of life.
Balogun’s hometown, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, was agog with dignitaries who gathered to honour the late Olori Omo Oba of Ijebuland.
Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, described Balogun as a foremost banker and lawyer who was a model for generations of bankers. The President spoke through Shettima during the funeral service of the late Prince at The Cathedral Church of Our Saviour, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. He acknowledged that the contributions of the late baron of the capital market would be missed.
The President acknowledged the contributions of Ijebus to the development of the country as a whole, saying “You our dear people of Ijebuland, we must be grateful for the personality you have raised for the nation and the world,” he said.
Governor Dapo Abiodun while describing Otunba Balogun as a role model, an intellectual and quintessential human being, noted that his contributions to the banking sector, Ijebuland and the church would be missed. In his message titled “The Righteous will be separated from the wicked on the judgement day,” the Diocesan Bishop of Remo Anglican Diocese, Most Rev. Olusina Fape, who read from the book of Matthew, chapter 13, verse 24 to 30, described death as a debt to be paid by everyone.
Bishop Fape while noting that wealth is not a hindrance to making heaven urged rich men and women to learn to serve God, saying that their lives do not belong to them, but to God Almighty. The Bishop also while noted that the deceased was highly placed and humble, saying that he was a friend of the church, a committed Christian who impacted his generation positively.
The remains of the billionaire businessman were committed to mother earth in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State on Saturday, amid tears.
The funeral service was also attended by a former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; industrialists, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola; the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Monetary Policy, Mr Wale Edun; former Governors Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and the President of the African Development Bank, Mr Akinwunmi Adesina, among others.
