Vice President Kashim Shettima has described the late Subomi Balogun, founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), as a “banking icon who embodied what the world desired”.
Shettima spoke on Saturday at the funeral service for the late Balogun held at Cathedral Church of Our Saviour in Ijebu Ode, Ogun state.
On May 19, Balogun died at the age of 89.
Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu, said the FCMB founder was a model for generations of bankers and lawyers.
The vice president added that Balogun was “a philanthropist extraordinaire” whose departure from “this world at age 89 is a gift that only a few have benefited from”.
“He not only immortalised your industrious spirit as the founder of the flourishing First City Merchant Bank, which we all know as FCMB, but the world is going to remain grateful to him even much longer than he lived,” Olusola Abiola, director information, office of the vice president, quoted Shettima as saying.
“We are here to celebrate life. As he peacefully departs from this earthly realm at the remarkable age of 89, we lift our voices in prayer, offering our heartfelt appreciation for the profound impact he made during his time among us.
“So, this is more of a gratitude to the almighty God for bringing such a noble person to our world and changing the course of our history.”
The vice president condoled with the family of the late philanthropist, the government and the people of Ogun state, offering prayers for the departed elder statesman.
“Our dear people of Ijebuland and the Ijebu Christians must be grateful for the personality you have raised for the nation and the world, in fact,” he said.
“In this moment of farewell, we ask for your divine comfort and solace to embrace the loved ones and friends of Otunba Balogun. May they find strength in the shared memories, and may their hearts be filled with gratitude for the privilege of knowing and being touched by such an extraordinary individual.
“May Otunba find eternal rest in your heavenly abode, and may his legacy continue to inspire generations to come.”
On his part, Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun state, said Balogun was a prodigious intellectual and an astute economist “who attended the Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos before proceeding to London School of Economist to read law in 1956”.
