09/06/2015
THE GENESIS OF FCMB: THE STORY OF A NIGERIAN QUITTER
Behind every successful company or great achievement lies an inspiring story of an inspired mind, a courageous heart who braved the odds to advance the course of humanity. Such a story always stimulates the emotions and intellect of anyone who hears it, and could also challenge one to rise up to the challenge of one’s situation. The story of Otunba Michael Subomi Balogun, the founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), belongs to this class.
In my recent article, QUITTERS ARE WINNERS, FORGET IT!, I not only challenged the belief-system that ‘quitters are loses’ but also promised to share the story a quitter who founded one of the leading banks in Nigeria. In that article, I made a case that a person who feels disgusted has reached a point of no return. He or she is ready to challenge the status quo and act on a decision that will change the trajectory of his or her life forever.
First City Merchant (now Monument) Bank was born the day Michael Balogun felt that he was cheated by the organization he worked for, and without thinking of what next to do, he threw in his resignation letter.
As an expertise in the company as well as the brain behind its creation, he was sent on a course in the US and he came back with ideas with which they can set up a merchant bank. However, when it was time to select the Chief Executive of this new bank, he was told that he was not qualified because he has his basic training in Law. Furthermore, the 42-year old man felt insulted that his company brought a 32-year old young man with little or no experience from America, to come and replace him.
Disgusted, Michael Balogun couldn’t swallow this blow on his expertise. Indeed, it was too much for him to stomach without facing perpetual indigestion.
That was the end between him and the company. He left to set up this merchant bank since he was the one that has the vision and the roadmap. What? Yes, he sacked himself to prove a point. This is the way the legendary banker puts it in his interview with Vanguard newspaper:
“By nature God gave me what we call courage, tenacity of purpose, discipline, I knew where I was going but the vista was as misty and unbelievable. I was surprised that one Nigerian would say that if he didn’t get the position in a bank; he would go out to set up a bank. I wasn’t interested just in money but as this encapsulated, I was trying to prove that given the opportunity and with support of the Almighty God, I had a meteor to attain the commanding heights in the management of the financial institution.”
He further explained: “I was trying to prove a point, that I wasn’t arrogant or envious, but with the support I had and with the grace of the Almighty God, so when I felt cheated by not being allowed to head an institution created by foreign institutions and then former employers, I had a courage to desire and without anything in my pocket except my God, I decided to start on a journey of self-actualization.”
Today, in the Nigerian banking industry, Michael Balogun is referred as the “Father of Nigerian Merchant Banking, the Grandmaster and Baron of the Nigerian Capital and Money Market” by experts. He was the first person to start a Nigerian bank without foreign direct investments or funding from the Nigerian government.
I am sure his story would have been different if not because of that single incident that infuriated him and pushed him to think outside the box. It usually looks scary at the beginning of the journey. No wonder, it always requires an external force to push us to act in the direction of our true destiny by faith. For Michael Balogun, it was a disgustful feeling of being cheated and insulted by bringing a younger person and foreigner without experience to replace him simply because he is a Nigerian.
As you come to the conclusion of this piece, you don’t have to wait until you are jilted before you rise to the occasion. Do you still want to live as a prisoner of your own circumstance or as a creator of your own destiny?
Are you still feeling sorry for what has happened to you? Maybe, you have been sacked from a job or ‘sacked’ from a relationship? I don’t care what has happened to you. Mark this statement it works: “Your best will always come out from your worst situation”. Napoleon Hill said that every adversity has a seed of an equivalent benefit.
Let the new phase of your life starts now. With the help of God, nothing is impossible! Step out in faith, knowing that wonderful things will begin to happen as long as you are in a journey of self-realization. It’s time to quit because quitters, in this context, always win.
But what if they first sack? What if he or she first sack? Will heaven fall? Don’t wait till then, do something now. Lead your own change.
It’s possible.
Tochi
