Nigerian Billionaire, banker and philanthropist, Otunba (Dr) Michael Olasubomi Balogun, the founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), has passed away at age 89.
According to family sources, he died in London in the early hours of Friday, May 19, 2023.
Born on March 9, 1934 at Ijebu ode, Ogun State, Otunba Balogun attended several schools, including Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, before heading to England, to study Law at the London School of Economics. Armed with the requisite qualifications, he returned to Nigeria and joined the Ministry of Justice, Western Region, as a Crown Counsel and Parliamentary Counsel in the Federal Ministry of Justice. He later moved to the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank, where he advocated the establishment of a merchant bank. He joined that same subsidiary of NIDB, ICON securities, in 1973.
Apart from being the founder of FCMB Group, he is the Otunba Tunwase, the Olori Omo-oba of Ijebu; the Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians, the Baba Oba of Ijebu-Ife and the Asalu-Oba of Ijebu Mushin. Otunba Balogun is a baron of the Nigerian capital and money markets; doyen, pioneer and role model of entrepreneurial banking in Nigeria; a constructive philanthropist and a distinguished church leader who has devoted a substantial part of his private resources towards the care and service of the less privileged.
A lover of children who has built several institutions for the health care, welfare and survival of children, Otunba Balogun is also a distinguished author, opinion leader, writer and a respected community leader whose contributions for community welfare continue to expand even as he grows older. A business icon, a philanthropist par excellence and a strong adherent to the Christian religion faith, he is also a strong character with unwavering inner convictions to which his resounding successes in many spheres of life could be attributed.
Otunba Balogun has several awards in his kitty. He is a recipient of the American Biographical Institute Inc’s Distinguished Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to the development of Investment Banking. He is also a recipient of the University of Ibadan’s Degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his outstanding achievements both in the field of Law and his contributions to the socio-economic development of Nigeria; a Merit Award for philanthropic services to Ogun State in particular and the country as a whole, and also the Ijebu Development Association award and Council Membership of a number of multi-national Chambers of Commerce. The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria made him a Fellow of the Institute for his pioneering and outstanding contribution to the Banking Industry.
