At 89, Otunba Balogun Lives For Others

Good men, they say, hardly live for themselves. Their stories are never told with hisses in disillusionment, but rather intense interest, for the many positive morals they present to the larger society. So are the testimonies of Otunba Michael Olasubomi Balogun, the Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians, an archetype of divine favour, founder of the FCMB Group and an apostle of humanitarianism who has constantly demonstrated in different ways and at all times, his total surrender to serving God and humanity. 

Born on 9th March 1934 at Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Otunba (Dr) Michael Olasubomi Balogun attended several schools, including Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, before heading to England to study Law at the London School of Economics. Armed with the requisite qualifications, he returned to Nigeria and joined the Ministry of Justice, Western Region, as a Crown Counsel and Parliamentary Counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice. He later moved to the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), where he advocated the establishment of a merchant bank. He joined that same subsidiary of NIDB, ICON securities, in 1973.
   
Other major moves of his illustrious banking career include ICON Ltd and City Securities before he later applied for a merchant bank license that birthed the First City Merchant Bank. Of the institutions and businesses that require the most and the best in setting up, a bank naturally comes first, requiring a concert of ideas from persons of diverse professional callings. Hence they are usually set up by groups of investors, not so in the case of FCMB, which is solely the idea of Otunba Balogun. Not just that he set it up, he also imbued it with a culture of excellence that has endured over time. To his credit, he was the first to create a special dining room for bank employees and insisted they wear dark and conservative suits. He also introduced the elegant, memorable, likeable, and relatable bank architectural model synonymous with the average FCMB branch, now widely adopted in different iterations by banks in the country. 
    
Having attained the pinnacle of banking success, Otunba Balogun shifted his focus to philanthropy and now lives a life of giving more than anything else. He is using his success to give back and make a positive impact on others. People are often amazed at his level of generosity and how it has become a way of life. When something has become a way of life, it defies scheduling – it just happens. To institutionalise this way of life, he set up the ‘Otunba Tunwase Foundation that has become a source of blessing to many.  One of his favourite quotes from the scriptures is, “Children are a heritage of the Lord…” because he loves and values children, which motivated him to prioritise their well-being by building the Otunba Tunwase National Paediatrics Centre – a massive multi-billion-naira health care centre now fully donated as a total gift to the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan. You will find that quote from the scripture etched on the massive infrastructure. 
   
He uplifts individuals and communities through scholarships, empowering the disadvantaged to pursue their dreams, achieve their goals, and make a positive impact beyond their communities. To his credit are over 300 education scholarships offered to Nigerians from different walks of life. So, it is unsurprising that many accomplished people always warm-up to him, saying he is their benefactor and role model. Otunba Balogun is a man of the people who has it all and owes God a river of thanks.  The average man desires to attain long years before departure from this terrestrial plane, but many rarely make it to their 80th birthday anniversaries. For this reason, Otunba Balogun appreciates the grace of seeing multiple tens and still counting. Much more so, celebrating all these in the soundness of mind at almost 90.