As i drive past the upteenth branch with faded signposts i shake my head at the Bank Mr Agbaje would be leaving behind
Mr. Agbajes ending tenure seems to be riddled with all sorts of stories. A culling of top Executives reminiscent of the recent appointment of a Chief for our hard-pressed Army, entitlements held back on the back of pettiness, and a workforce lethargic from a dearth in incentives and inspiration.
I am sad. Cos I loved the story. The vibrancy that came with its foundation and the pride you had holding a GTB checkbook.
It was a dream. A Nigerian dream. Something that came our of the corpse that was our essence. It stood up bright and proud and we all bowed to the terrific enigma that was an institution
The music seems to have slowly ebbed into the hollow corridors of ineptitude. The weight of its legacy bearing very strongly on the tiny legs of a whittled down structure and a reawkening delayed by the seeming fear of critics heralding a cultue of silence
I sha like to be mischevious even as i imagine the wrinkling noses of the suit’s in their Adeyemo Alakija Towers read this and the snigger from others who would say, ‘This Duke can find trouble’
But what does the future hold when well built institutions like this begin to crackle even before the demise of its founders.
How do we maintain a continuity that will serve as a bulwark against the leprous existence we face when things are going one kind and people for fear of only God knows what will be silent and be watching.
Where is my respect for the brand ? Where is my pride for the institution? All gone with its lost vibrancy.
Now we see its children breaking ground, capturing markets falling on its pristine values while the orange brand or whatever was its colouring pale into insignificance like the colour of the spoilt tangerine it parades all over its many branches.
What legacy is being left behind. How do we define this just ended era.
Hope lies in its sturdy foundations. The believe that its enigmatic foundations would carry the weight of a renaissance after this seeming darkness
We will yet smile. But this chapter has to close and then the cock will crow for a new Dawn
For now let GTB sleep uneasily as it awaits its re-emergence
Thank you
Duke of Shomolu
