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Top Nigerian bank executive, wife, son confirmed dead in US helicopter crash

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The Chief Operating Officer of pan-African financial group, Access Corporation, owners of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, has been confirmed dead alongside his wife, son and the former Group Chairman of the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX),
Abimbola Ogunbanjo, in a helicopter crash in the United States.

According to Michael Graham, an executive of the US National Transportation Safety Board, the chartered Airbus EC130 helicopter was flying from Palm Springs, California to Boulder City, Nevada, when it crashed in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border late Friday night.

The aircraft, which was operated by California-based charter company, Orbic Air, took off around 8:45 p.m. PT and crashed just after 10 p.m. near Interstate 15 in Halloran Springs, California, Graham said.

He added that the helicopter caught fire upon impact, citing witness reports. Witnesses also reported rain and a wintry mix when the crash happened, he said.

The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash and was on the scene in Halloran Springs, California, Saturday night collecting evidence, Graham said at a news conference.

The New United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed the crash in a statement late Saturday.

In the statement, the FAA confirmed that all onboard are dead as search revealed that no survivors had been found as of Saturday.

“We were made aware of a downed aircraft at approximately 10:12 p.m., on February 10, 2024. The scene of the crash was determined to be east of the 15-Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also said in a statement.

Here are 10 things to know about the late Herbert Wigwe:

1. Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe who died at the age of 58 in a helicopter crash in the United States, was born on August 22, 1966. He hailed from Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

2. He had a degree in Accountancy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu.

3. He also had a Masters degree in Banking and Finance from the University College of North Wales, and an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London.

4. Wigwe started his career at Coopers & Lybrand, Lagos as a management consultant, later qualifying as a chartered accountant.

5 . After a stint at Capital Bank, he joined Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), where he spent over a decade working in corporate and institutional banking, rising to become the executive director in charge of institutional banking.

6. While with GTB, Wigwe worked with Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to buy Access Bank, which used to hold the 65th position amongst the list of 89 banks in the country.

7. Wigwe also served as the Chairman of Access Bank Ghana Limited, Access Investment & Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) and the current Chairman of Access Bank (UK) Limited until his demise.

8. He later succeeded Aig-Imoukhuede as the MD of Access Bank and worked on a vision of transforming the bank into a global bank, a feat he achieved in his lifetime. He not only took the bank beyond the African continent, he expanded it to become a financial conglomerate.

9. In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.

10. Herbert Wigwe founded the wave-making Wigwe University located at Isiokpo, Rivers State. The university is expected to kick off in September 2024. In a recent interview, Wigwe had said the University valued at over $500 million will offer undergraduate courses in management, science and engineering, information technology, and creative arts.

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65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

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A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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