The Wigwe family: A letter to Aig, By Ugoji Egbujo

Aig, the trust of this letter is peace and unity. I haven’t come to vilify or condemn you or the members of the Wigwe family who think those asking questions are meddlesome interlopers. You must have been through a lot since last year. But if I were you, I wouldn’t give an inch of space to rumourmongers who are now saying that you have hijacked the bank and usurped Herbert. I would confront them with transparency.

It’s been a year since Herbert, Chizoba and Chizi died. That accident had the country crying from the heart. One had thought that it was too much sorrow for Herbert’s old parents. Too bruising for their 90-year-old hearts. Too searing for their heads. Now, their family is being brutally torn apart before their tired eyes. How can the soul of your dear friend rest in peace?

Aig, Herbert was more than a brother. Brothers are rarely this intertwined. Fate joined both of you in the hip in your youth. In business, you were Siamese twins. Your families were inseparable. You shared work and leisure. Your relationship cannot be sufficiently described from the outside. His father is your father. At 58, you are Pa Shyngle’s little son. How difficult can it be to carry along a 90-year-old tortured pastor who has buried his two eldest sons?

The Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience is respect. The Bible commands, ‘Obey your parents, including parent figures, so that your days may be long.’ Your days will be long, Aig. However, if Herbert had died poor, Tochi, Hannah, David, and all of Herbert’s children would have been the responsibility of their grandfather and Herbert’s siblings. That’s blood. But Herbert died rich. And now, the old man can’t even see his grandchildren. You might argue that obedience doesn’t mean helping some siblings use their aged father to dispossess the young children of their deceased brother. But Aig, do you truly believe Pa Shyngle is out to strip his grandchildren of their father’s property?

Herbert’s death shook the nation. Many have confessed it taught them profound lessons about the precariousness of man and the fickleness of wealth, by its arbitrary and ruthless punctuating nature. Hebert conquered so much. His pace was breathless. He left in his prime with nothing. Death didn’t even spare him a succession plan. Had Hebert survived you, he would never have allowed your family to be ruined by a mere Will. He would have seen any such dispute as a challenge that he must conquer. Because when a warrior chooses to make peace, he won’t spare his arm and leg to win hearts and minds. Hebert would have been transparent with your parents. Herbert would not have allowed anyone to treat them as nosy parkers. Herbert would not have allowed your parents to second-guess his actions and ponder his motives. He would have known that such a state would damage their broken minds. He would had tolerated even their nosiness and not deemed them meddlesome. He would have shielded your children from divisive whispers and paranoid calculations. He would have regarded a failure to forge peace and unity between your parents, siblings and children as a personal disaster.

Aig, Herbert’s children know you as the uncle above all uncles. You were the uncle who was closer than a twin to their father. They will rely on your counsel more than any other. You are now their father. But they have a grandfather and a grandmother. Their world would be impoverished without their closest relatives. This feud must be defused. You ought to know that your most important task is to glue that bruised family together, to keep the children close to their broken grandparents whose hearts are bleeding to death. Where in this duty is a role for egotism?

The family says you took care of Herbert’s parents until they sought to know what was happening with Herbert’s assets. Once they did, somebody somewhere churned out the heartless rumour that they wanted to corner 20 per cent of Herbert’s money. You might know what’s true and false. But now, the public looks at them like greedy rogues. If you love these people, come out and protect their image against these stories.

Aig, take the wheat in this counsel and throw away the chaff. Hebert loved and cared for his parents. You ought to care, respect and love them unconditionally. At 90, Pa Wigwe should be considered beyond reproach by you. He deserves empathy. When Herbert’s Will was read in his absence, while he was on a health check abroad, it could be that someone wanted to spare him the troubles of a Will. But did you not think he should have been notified in advance? I will come back to that US Will, which was registered in Lagos before the funeral dirge subsided.

The family says you took care of Herbert’s parents until they sought to know what was happening with Herbert’s assets. Once they did, somebody somewhere churned out the heartless rumour that they wanted to corner 20 per cent of Herbert’s money. You might know what’s true and false. But now, the public looks at them like greedy rogues. If you love these people, come out and protect their image against these stories.

When you came to Isiokpo for the first year of remembrance and didn’t bother to visit Pa Shyngle, whose house you passed before reaching the mausoleum, you left tongues wagging. What could be the old man’s unforgivable sin? That grave you went to is the grave of his beloved son. Why would you allow this rift to harden? Had you gone in to see him, you would have seen the house Uche’s father built for himself and Pa Shyngle. The same two houses, Herbert later modernised. You would have seen that the Wigwe family have lived their lives as one. And that allowing Uche to act contrary to the wishes of Pa Shyngle will damage the extended family forever. No matter the perceived provocation, how could you allow a security agency to arrest Herbert’s brother on the eve of that remembrance?

Aig, Hebert chose his wife as next of kin to administer his assets. But see what death did. Somewhere down that list, he chose Uche because his father was supposed to die before him. And for the Wigwes, cousins are no less than blood brothers. How can’t you see that Pa Shyngle cannot, therefore, be sidelined simply because he wasn’t named? In Africa, naming him would have been an abomination. How can’t you see that, Will or no Will, he can’t be treated as if he is dead?

Aig, let me tell you this: Some members of Herbert’s family are now whispering that you are the biggest beneficiary of this ordeal. Optics matter, Aig. His parents have been sidelined. The bank has gone through a public offering without his father knowing the outcome and where it leaves his late son. Herbert indeed made you the trustee of his estate. But you must always remember that he never thought he would die before his father.

If Herbert had left nothing. If Herbert hadn’t left that 2013 Will, which didn’t capture his assets outside the United States, wouldn’t you have still looked after Herbert’s parents? If you had been in that plane, wouldn’t Pa Shyngle have, at the depth of his sorrow, muttered, “Oh, if only Aig had even lived.” Now, they don’t have unfettered access to their grandchildren. Put yourself in their shoes. Where does that happen? They receive no briefings on the assets of their son, despite the fact that they are the cultural guardians of a couple of his children who are still minors. With Herbert’s wealth scattered all over the world, with some of his children too young to have a bank account, don’t you know their grandparents must keep an eye on these things? If you were their grandfather, in a Nigeria where all things are possible, would you have looked away?

Rumours have been carelessly allowed to sprout to blemish them. They have been branded hungry schemers seeking to usurp 20 per cent of their son’s estate, against his Will, by hook or crook. I don’t believe you have a hand in these mischevous schemes. But how can’t you rise above the fray and protect the unity of this family and the sanity of the emotionally exhausted old people.

Aig, let me tell you this: Some members of Herbert’s family are now whispering that you are the biggest beneficiary of this ordeal. Optics matter, Aig. His parents have been sidelined. The bank has gone through a public offering without his father knowing the outcome and where it leaves his late son. Herbert indeed made you the trustee of his estate. But you must always remember that he never thought he would die before his father. The presence of his father demands recognition. Litigating this matter damages the backbone of the Wigwe family. Every father is protective of his son. Pa Shyngle would like to know that Herbert’s estate is protected. If the executor of a will is paid off without his consent, if a US Will is registered in Lagos, where he lives without his knowledge, and if he is not treated as the head of the Wigwe family, then something is not right. Aig, in handling Herbert’s Will and estate, it will be abominable to carry on as if Pa and Mummy Shyngle are not alive.

Aig, the trust of this letter is peace and unity. I haven’t come to vilify or condemn you or the members of the Wigwe family who think those asking questions are meddlesome interlopers. You must have been through a lot since last year. But if I were you, I wouldn’t give an inch of space to rumourmongers who are now saying that you have hijacked the bank and usurped Herbert. I would confront them with transparency. I believe nobody loves Herbert more than you. I believe he has not been usurped in the shareholding structure of the bank as is being insinuated. You are a most ethical professional. Your pedigree is rare. But you have to rise to this challenge and unite this family. Our days are numbered. Pa Wigwe is 90. You have to hurry.

May God, who sees in secret, give you wisdom and strength and reward all your deeds mmaji kwuru mmaji.

Ugoji Egbujo writes from Abuja.