A few days ago, I wrote about my loyalty clashing with my self-imposed responsibility to my readers
My friend and brother was reported to have been sacked by the biggest indigenous conglomerate in the country with interests in Refining and commodities
My issue was the dilemma I faced in reporting the exclusive event to my readers and staying loyal to my friend and brother
So I took a middle-of-the-road position and wrote about my conscience and all of that crap
Now I have heard from the other side
Let me first state what I first heard. It was a meeting, late in the night to discuss the impending IPO and there was a shouting match between my brother and the GCFO
I was also told that there had been an altercation between both men earlier in the week and this late Friday night’s own was the last straw
Voices were raised, tempers flared and in the end, my brother was sacked
But what I have heard from another reliable source counters the first narration
But I know you would be wondering why so much interest in this story and I will tell u
There is a lot to learn, for both the Young Executive just climbing the corporate ladder and the experienced Executive
Themes like corporate governance, ethics, hierarchy, procedure and very importantly emotional intelligence
Back to the story – they have parted ways, the exit process has been activated and it will take 25 days
The story continues…
It is a story of a culture of swearing, open threats to senior executives, shouting at meetings and ‘toxic insider politics’ by the old guard
The source continues – he resigned on ‘Friday and would have resigned two weeks into the job, the first time that Turkish man swore and threatened him openly’
Hmmm. I swallowed some spittle at this time
He continued – two months after his resumption, no permanent office, no KPI, no handover notes, no call card’
Finally, I quote my brother – there was no shouting in any meeting or sack. I chose honour, peace of mind and dignity over slavery, money and the poison of an office /title and company
Now we have two sides of the story, let me now analyse
For years now, we have been hearing from the grapevine stories about a wonky corporate culture in the huge Conglomerate
We have been hearing of weakening institutionalisation of corporate decision-making, human capital foibles and staccato processes leading to a high staff turnover, theft, and the emergence of petty power blocks which all make for a fearful work environment
Despite this, the bottom line keeps growing, the Conglomerate keeps swallowing market share making its main promoter one of the biggest names in businesses globally
Then enters the Executive, fresh from a colourful exit from one of the biggest exchanges on the continent
Ego brimming, sweet transactions under his belt and a messianic vision to be part of this revolution taking place in African business
Just two months later, he is on the kerb. Thrown out with bitter stories to tell.
What went wrong? Why was he not able to survive the topsy-turvy of the Conglomerate despite his years of playing in top-flight corporate firms within the Financial system
Let me digress and talk about my own story
I was a superstar salesman. Rushing through the corporate ladder on the back of superb performance
Before you know it, I had made Executive Director of BGL Asset Management, then one of the biggest and from there appointed DMD BGL Securities then top ten
I don’t know what even entered my head and I left for the little-known Investment One Financial Services Limited
Less pay, less position and less visibility. It was truly a lemon move as I was sold a dummy
I had done over 7 years with BGL and had been everything I needed to be with the most wonderful set of colleagues and mentors
I now found myself in a hermetic environment and before you knew it, I was kicked out
The question is why. The same question I am asking my brother now and the answer is simple
Culture. Corporate culture is very key to corporate growth and stability and this ties very succinctly to human capital management
Another question is, was my brother taken through a comprehensive induction taking him through both the visible and invisible nuances that pervade the new environment?
Or did he himself do his own private scouring of the environment? Looking out for red flags, power bases, information crucibles and process-driven relationships?
Coming from an Exchange that also is not without its own flaws but with a superior corporate governance ethos to the indigenous Conglomerate which started as a trading outpost of a family business will be like coming from piloting a giant Boeing Plane to attempting to fly a Helicopter no matter the size
The huge conglomerate, with its massive workforce by its very nature cannot be compared with the technically savvy workforce of a growing exchange, and as such, culture variation would be an issue
From what I am seeing, it is a failure for both sides for the Conglomerate to lose such a quality brain in just two months and also a loss for my brother for also losing a great job the way he has
Now another question – what role did emotional intelligence play in all of these?
In a discussion with the CEO of one of the biggest investment banks in Nigeria on this matter, I made mention that from an AGM level in most organisations the basic requirements for perfomance quickly shifts from technical to other softer but more stringent themes like relationship mgt, networking, fast thinking, pervasive decision thinking, curating influence and power and being able to sell vision to ur team and other stakeholders and also managing talent at all levels..
So the Turkish GCFO screaming all over the place despite his obviously brilliant credentials is a failure at his work while my brother also pushing the I am not a slave mantra has also shown severe failure in managing an obviously cantekorous individual
In my over 30 years of working in corporate Nigeria, I have worked under brilliant bosses and have also worked under some scallywags and what I learned after being sacked in two places was how to manage the scallywags who this GCFO seems to be
Patience is the word, getting closer, trying not to outshine and remaining humble but firm
My brother missed all of these cos he would have come with his messianic approach which would have given him a superiority mentality driving his ego to the point where he lashes out – you cannot talk to me like that and can you do that in the UK, you are coming from
What he missed is the bigger picture of being part of a historic process that would berth the biggest ever corporate IPO in Africa just cos a little Turkish man has bad manners
His manners although a reflection of the poor human capital management of the firm, were definitely not a reflection of the vision that is driving the huge concern that now has global respect
My brother did not see beyond the garlic-smelling GCFO to see the massive prospect of his name in gold but allowed himself to be shot down just as he was about to unfold and fly
This is a story that must be taken seriously by all corporate players both at the ownership level and also at the employee level cos unmanaged ego unleashed in a weakened institutional environment would lead to things like this
The good thing is that for the giant Conglomerate, no one man no matter how brilliant is indispensable, but then again, an unchecked situation like this could lead to the firm being classified as a ‘not too brilliant work environment’ which would definitely push away quality manpower
In conclusion, this was a red flag for the whole Human Capital Management structure of the place for them not to have built a sound complaint management structure, a debriefing structure and also not being able to put in place competent mechanisms that would allow the flourishing of a brilliant interpersonal work relationship model
I’ll stop shut of asking for a complete overhaul of the whole human capital team but a strongly worded memo should be issued from the desk of the President to whoever heads that team.
This was a shameful episode
They can come and beat me
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: April 29, 2026
