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For Nigeria to break even and join the league of developed nations, it must have genuine and focused leadership at every layer of governance. According to the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Highness, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, “We need full and genuine and focused leadership.  

When I say leadership, I mean leadership at all levels; at the governance level, those who have been elected to lead us should do so transparently. And those in the parliament and religious leaders must lead genuinely. Industrial leaders, we must lead well. Educators at school systems, organised and unorganised, should strive to produce genuine leaders.”

Igwe Achebe, a former executive director of Shell and currently the Chairman of Diamond Bank, who recently turned 71 and also marked his 10th anniversary on the throne, frowned at the level of corruption going on in the country now, warning that this is sending a wrong signal to the youths, who are the future leaders.  

When “the chairman of the committee of the House of Representatives, that was investigating corruption, actually went and collected bribe to doctor the report, what should the youths think of the elders, when even the elders are deeply engaged in corruption with reckless abandon and the youths themselves don’t have employment?” He querried.

In an interview with Daily Sun, Igwe Achebe took time off to relive his experience on the throne for the past 10 years, saying “It has been tough, challenging; exciting and fulfilling.” He also talked on how he has been able to cope between the traditional institution and the corporate  world.  Excerpts:

How has it been for 10 years? It has been challenging; it’s been exciting; it has also been fulfilling, rewarding. I think those are the words that express my experience in those 10 years. It has been tough. 10 years ago, Onitsha was still in my own mind and in the minds of some of my people. We were behind time. The world is changing everyday; Nigeria is changing everyday and, Onitsha as a community, must also change.

We have to be abreast of change. I think those have been the challenges in trying to bring Onitsha to its rightful status, and move on with time – peace and reconciliation among our people, respect for one another, being truthful to one another, love for ourselves, for the community and our town. Then, of course, development, progress, education, education, education for our children, especially those in Onitsha. As for those in the Diaspora, many of them are carrying on very well wherever they are. But in Onitsha, the children need education.  

Onitsha! There are two Onitsha in one. There is the indigenous community and there is the bigger Onitsha metropolitan community. Our challenge is the entire metropolitan community. In managing the challenges of urbanisation; challenges of commercialisation and challenges of industrialisation, which will have an impact – often times negative impact – on the indigenous community and the indigenous elements of Onitsha; arts and culture and tradition, and ways of life.  

So, we are managing the balance. We are not saying industrialisation and commercialisation are wrong...they are right. I like Onitsha to be as urbanised as Lagos, and as big as Lagos, as burstling as Lagos economically, also to preserve what distinguishes us as a people, our culture and tradition and our indigenous practice. So, the challenge of maintaining the balance between the two has been for us issue of managing. In some, we have been successful and, in some, not so successful. The challenge still is ‘where we haven’t done well, to still work harder and harder’.  

Land management is a challenge – making sure that whatever land we have is well managed so that our children and our successors will have land to build (houses) for themselves. We have to use land more efficiently and more effectively. These are the kinds of challenges that we have to live up to. I think we are doing our best and, we thank God.  

It is now over five years since you have been elected chairman of Diamond Bank and, within these five years, the bank has stabilized. What strategy have you brought in to bring this about?  I came to the board about five and half years ago. I inherited the leadership of the bank from Mr Pascal Dozie, who was the pioneer managing director and pioneer chairman of the board. I inherited the bank that was on the growth path and the next three years very robust for us. Credit goes to Pascal Dozie for setting up, growing and managing the bank to that level. Of course, also for having the wisdom to say ‘well, I have done all I can do, I am bringing other people to take the bank to the next level’. He stepped down as managing director, and Emeka Onwuka took over; he stepped down from the board, and asked me to take over. We carried on.  

The issue of growth for three years then ended with the downturn of the global economy. We are part of it in Nigeria. So, Diamond Bank, like other Nigerian banks, suffered a setback. Some banks are at different levels of setback or the other. We have our own challenges. We have reported negative profits for the last two, three years. This year, we also reported negative profit. The good news is that we remain robust and we survived the downturn and still remain robust. That is good news. And we believe that we have bottomed out, and the result for 2012, so far, has proved that. We believe that the past is behind us. I think that has been a big achievement for seeing the bank survive.  

How have we done that? We brought in additional investment. We became partners with Actis in the business. They showed interest and became part of Diamond Bank than any other banks in Nigeria. It is a mark of something positive for us. We then went for additional capital raising at the international level. The GDR, which we had locally in Nigeria and overseas through the London Stock Exchange, was oversubscribed. We are doing very well that today it shows part of confidence in Diamond Bank. We then listed in the London Stock Exchange on the professional services listing. It was a success. At the time we listed, the global economy was coming down. So, the courage to go on and list successfully is commendable.

Since I took over on the board, every opportunity we had, we used it to bring in more diversity and more strength on the board. Diversity of backgrounds, diversity of professional achievements...and gender diversity also. We have two positions, we filled those slots with very sound people. One of them has since become federal minister. And our corporate governance framework is in line with all the Central Bank and Securities and Exchange Commission-controlled regulations.  

We have also brought in very strong enterprise management framework. So, all in all, we’ve done very well to move the bank to the next level beyond what we inherited. That is a challenge. We have done very well at that level. New management has come in also. Alex Otti, the managing director, came in in March, 2011, bringing in fresh thoughts, fresh ideas, fresh initiatives. He brought in some other new management at various levels.  

Where do you want to take Diamond Bank in the next five years?  We rank ourselves with other banks in Nigeria. We missed out in the last wave of mergers and acquisitions that took place. We put in our bid but we didn’t succeed. But we are not unhappy because our risk appetite is within the limit we can manage. We have reviewed our strategy, so we are putting it this way...being not part of the last wave of mergers and acquisition that took place, we now find ourselves in the middle tier of banking in Nigeria. Our strategic aim is to go back to the 1st tier and become one of the top best banks in Nigeria within the period. What about our strategy to get there? We will get there.  

How is the day-to-day running of Onitsha like?  We have a cabinet of very eminent people and highly qualified people; people who had achieved very high levels in their chosen careers. The Prime Minister of Onitsha is Chief Chike Offodile (SAN), one time Attorney-General of the federation. And I think he is probably the No 3 or No 4 today in the roll of Senior Advocates (of Nigeria). And he just turned 90 this year. We have a retired commissioner of police; we have medical doctors, senior medical doctors like Dr Obiora, who is a managing partner of Eko Hospital.  

We have retired professors – Professor Goddy Okafor, who is the Ogene of Onitsha, retired as deputy vice chancellor and former commissioner in the government. This is the calibre of people and we’ve all had our time in respective vocations. We retired and come back to Onitsha, to serve the community and give something back to the community. Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe came back as Owelle of Onitsha and served very well and very humbly too. Within that, we have our respective portfolios in the cabinet. Somebody is in charge of security, somebody is in charge of youth development. Somebody is in charge of education; somebody is in charge of community health: environmental sanitation.

Of course, the bigger community, the trader; the market group, organised market group, the municipal, we liaise with them. Also we have people who are responsible in liaising with them and the activities of the transporters like managing where they are parking cars, we have to ensure that they do their business orderly in the market without trouble. Of course, if they have problems, they come to the palace. And as much as possible, we address these problems. Those within our purview, we address them.  

The Ofala festival has acquired a life of its own. What is Ofala and why is it celebrated? Ofala is a combination of several elements of our tradition. We have a ceremonial cycle in the course of the year. Our own traditional year is tied to the farming cycle, that is, the agricultural cycle. In the ancient days, Onitsha people were all farmers. A lot of our traditional religious beliefs were tied to the land, to farming; to agriculture. So, at certain stages of the year, we have to appease the gods and appease our ancestors so that the agriculture produce of the year are good products. The first one is Ijoku which is the prayer that the land should be cool.

It comes before the rains, when you are preparing the grounds for planting, that the land be cool and that the crops will yield good produce. The next ceremony is the Ajachi – the crops have been planted, they are growing, the rains have been falling. Sometimes, the yield may be poor. So, Ajachi is a sacrifice to your own personal guardian angel – every human being has what we call the Chi in Igboland. The Chi directs your life, guides your life; you pray to your Chi, that the seeds you planted would yield good crops in the year. Then in August, we have the Umatu Festival – the first harvest, which is corn- the celebration of the harvest of the corn. The Umatu celebrates the corn festival – Iyioka.  

Then, the next one is the New Yam Festival which is celebrated with the yam, which is the peak of our festive year. Now, it is in the middle of the New Yam Festival that Ofala takes place. Some of the villages have had their new yam festival and others will have theirs near Ofala. The last yam celebration is by the king himself.

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Ofala also is the one time in the year, in the ancient days, when the Obi – the king – makes himself available to his people. In the past, the Obi is inaccessible, he stays in the palace, in prayers and supplications for the community. And only the chiefs and the closest circle of his relatives have access to him. If you come to the palace and you say you want to see the Obi, they ask you what you want to see him for. You narrate your challenge. They say wait – they go in, they talk – they come back and say Obi said you should do this, do this.  

So, once in a year, he makes himself available to the people to show that is alive because he is the sacrificial slave of the community. The life of the community is encapsulated in his own life, the monarch. So, when he appears at Ofala and looks hale and hearty, the society is happy that the gods, the ancestors have taken good care of Obi, and the people of the community.  

In modern times, it has become bigger and bigger by bringing other elements of our culture like the youth programme. We use the programme to focus on our youths, any development programmes that have taken place in the course of the year. It is an opportunity for all our indigenes, wherever they are, to come back home. It is for all our people to come home once in a year, celebrate together and embrace each other. We are taking the opportunity also to bring our friends to Onitsha, if they come, they become part and parcel of the festival.

What is your philosophy of life? My philosophy of life is a tough one. But simply, first of all, absolute belief in God in good times, at all times, in all circumstances. He is the supreme being that guides and controls everything. He is the God that loves; He is the God that is equitable and fair. So that is one. If you believe in God, also you must be contented with whatever God has given to you and never look beyond your shoulders to watch what God has given to somebody else.

So absolute contentment is important. That is the real word that my father told me. Money is not wealth, contentment is wealth. Humility in everything, all your blessings come from God; at your home , you go to school with other people, you pass exams, it takes humility; promotion at your job; it takes humility. And if you have a setback, it also takes humility as you go back and work harder. So, humility is my guiding philosophy. Hardwork is very important; hardwork; hardwork;  there is dignity in labour. Love your neighbour as you love yourself and be forgiving. And within that, all of them go together.

As a foremost traditional Igbo leader, what is your advice to Nigerian youths? What advice do I give to the youths? I think that talking about advice, it is advice to all of us – the whole nation not the youths alone. The youths are only part of it. And in many ways, one should have some understanding, some sympathy for our youths. If as a young man, a young woman, the youths we are talking about are watching, and here, the Chairman of the Committee of the House (of Representatives) that was to investigate corruption in the fuel subsidy in the country actually went and collected bribe to doctor the report, what should the youths think of the elders when the elders are showing much corruption with reckless abandon and the youths themselves don’t have employment?  

The kind of money that we are talking about appears to have been corruptly taken out of our economy without any justification. Think of what you could do with that money in the positive sense. Either building our schools so that the youths can get better education up to the tertiary institution; functional education so that they can be more useful to themselves or building our health system or building our roads and building the infrastructure so that the economy can expand; so that the youths can get more opportunities.  

So the gap is too wide, for instance, between those that have money and those that do not have money in the country- comparatively with other parts of the world- where people keep 10 cars in the house and others are walking and cannot afford to buy bicycles. And so, we need a more equitable society. All of us in our own respective ways must do something about it. Let’s respect one another, let us be more humble.

We need full and genuine and focused leadership. When I say leadership I mean leadership at all levels; at the governance level; those who have been elected to lead us should do so transparently. And those in the parliament and religious leaders must lead genuinely. Industrial leaders, where I belong, we must lead well. Educators at school system, organised and unorganised, should strive to produce genuine leaders. The youth leadership itself has to be genuine, selfless leadership; leadership that catered for everybody. We need a much more equitable society; if we have equitable society we will not have violence, we will not have all these problems.  

Today, there is a high level of corruption in our society, what do you think is wrong and what are the ways out of it? When I was in Shell, as a manager, once in a year you complete a form, you declare (whether you) you have accepted a bribe, or you have given out a bribe. Giving a bribe was easier to manage because if you give a bribe unless you use your own money on behalf of the company, otherwise, every money you receive on behalf of the company, you must account for it. Simple. If we went to government offices for certain approvals it took us so long (to get) because people were asking for something but we refused to give  bribe to them. We told them no we cant give bribe because we were working for the country.  

At the end of every year, every gift given to me as a manager must be recorded, not me alone, all the managers. You must record them and say what you did with them. So, any cash gifts must not be accepted. So, if you bring some drinks, I record it that I receive some drinks from so and so. And at the end of the period, I will divide them among our staff.

If somebody was given a contract and he gives a gift, you must not accept it, because he tried to induce you. So these are the practices we had then. I can say with all boldness that I did not give a bribe or accepted a bribe.  In Nigeria of today, pressures have grown; the economy has become more complicated. The salaries and revenues between those who are in control in the political sides; the types of allowances here of people in governance, compared with income level of university lecturers, of school teachers is outrageous.

And the fact is that so much corruption now at the senior level encourages and induces people at various levels now. They too want to take care of themselves. So what do I advise?  As I have said earlier on, we need to redefine what leadership really means. We need to redefine what public service really means, what common good really means; we need to bring in sense of equity at all levels; the policeman, the taxi driver, for a fact, ought to earn a living wage.  

What is a living wage? They will pay the school fees of their children, and pay their rents in modest house or own a modest house, and take care of their families  so that they are contented. There is public transport, you go to work and come back; the basic elements of life you can see a much more equitable society that has focused leadership; society that addresses all these.

Igwe, how do you unwind? First and foremost, appearance can be deceptive. If you see a duck swimming on waters, it looks very cool and very calm, below it is paddling away. Part of my upbringing has been not to panic even in times of crises. Whatever you can do today, don’t keep it till tomorrow because tomorrow, there may be other challenges, do it today. I am fortunate in a sense and I thank God for that even at this age, I sleep well. Whatever happens, as human beings, we have our own challenge in life, that is, some setbacks, bereavement family, accidents or loss of money, whatever the challenge is, you manage it, you show concern.

Today, I can shut down, I can sleep, tomorrow morning, pick up from where I stopped I continue again. My main relaxation today; I work in the garden. I am a horticulturist. I work in the garden. And in the house, I am very busy trying to turn the palace around. I have always enjoyed gardening as I grow up. I play squash actively but not now. I need to do more exercises. As a monarch, my job is more sedentary. I read whatever I can as much as possible. If you come to the house, there are lots of materials to read to keep one alive intellectually.  

I listen to music; classical music and reading.  Spending time between the corporate world and the traditional world is itself exciting because you are not bored on either side even though, you have been spending time on both sides. It is refreshing to switch from one to the other.And with modern communication, information and technology, you can do both better. I can be in New York and attend to traditional matters in Onitsha just as I can be in Onitsha handling corporate matters in Diamond Bank. I have been doing that quite regularly. So, all in all, it is a matter of managing time effectively and efficiently. Our motto in secondary school is work hard, play hard, in that order.

At 71, I should be gradually slowing down. I have got the message from my family, from my doctor and from my body. I have to gradually slow down. Again, it is a matter of priority.