I stood in front of the chapel located within the massive outdoor area of the notorious Kiri Kiri maximum prison
I was taking in the huge contradiction that was the wide expanse of land, which catered to an Olympic-size football field, a huge lawn tennis court, and the open University, when he walked towards us on his way somewhere.
I was with the pastor of the church who was a ‘lifer’ for stabbing his wife a reported 74 times and with a warder from Ondo state who was my guide for the day
Tunde Okoya the huge manufacturer and my host for the day and the young dancer who had featured in one of my plays and who was also in Jail for life for rape made up the quartet
Then I saw him, he was fresh-skinned, looked rested and really did look different from the rest
As he drew closer, my heart skipped – oh my God, it’s him. The man whose Bank told us that one day, cars would run on water
I ran towards him and he looked up – Edgar!!!! Sir, I responded
I hugged him and looked deep into his eyes-I saw nothing initially and then I saw a tad – welcome in those eyes – when he thought, I was also a convict
Edgar, when did you join us? Ohhh no sir, I came with Tunde for his fellowship visitation and then, I saw a little bit of shame
He no longer wanted to stand with us as he stretched his arm for a shake and quickly moved away
I watched him walk the whole expanse of the field with a bible in his hands and then my mind went back to my last meeting in his office
He was at the peak of his powers and he looked the part.
His shirt was white and expensive, his pants had the traditional side buckles and his cufflinks were radiating
He worked into the meeting room, a man fulfilled and happy with life
Edgar, this Bank is all I have,” he said. I have nothing else, everything is here
I was entranced. His bank had swallowed up my Habib Bank which I felt was quite remarkable judging from where he was coming from as a lowly Finance house
Even at that time, I wondered how the marriage would work, considering that Habib was a deeply conservative institution as against this high-flying, head-in-the-sky platform that was now leading the merger
I wasn’t surprised when the leading lights of the Habib side, left the place even my brother Kola Abiola who I think was the initial Chairman also left claiming not to understand the Dizzying pace at which things were going
I wanted to better understand him but he was only content in boasting that he was a banker to the President
The President is Yar’Adua whose elder brother Musa Yar’Adua had joined Atiku Abubakar and MKO Abiola to berth Habib Bank an excellent institution of which I am a proud alumnus
The Banking consolidation policy led to a late merger between Habib and his own platform to beat the deadline which was literally hours away
This merger immediately gave him access to the President whose family now held significant stakes in the new establishment and this was what he was boasting about to me
I contributed N2b for his campaign, he gleefully told me in his white shirt and with white teeth gleaming in the warm early morning sun
I asked him why his media campaign was sending unrealistic expectations to the market and he laughed – that is Charles he said.
Charles was his Comms guy and we both laughed and I stood up and walked away not before giving him another hug
The next hug, I gave him after that day was the one I gave him in prison
He must have recalled our last meeting cos of the way, he recoiled when I told him I was on a visitation rather than being an inmate.
As I was heading back to freedom, I saw him sitting in the far out corner of the prison courtyard in front of the catholic church with another inmate and our eyes locked one last time and he removed it, ignoring me.
The irony of life hit. A huge banking personality now just a number in a contained life with huge walls surrounding him and with freedom no longer a partner
It was a huge lesson for me, a slam dunk as Americans would call it, a huge realisation that one must truly be careful cos its not even the physical restraint of prison that I’d worry about, the ever-lasting tarnishing of a legacy was my sole concern.
Pity? No, very far from it – what I felt was a graphic illustration of the end game for a life driven by careless ambition and a nonchalant approach to one of the most important ethos of life – integrity.
Sad.
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: April 3, 2026
