By Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
The wife of the pastor of the RCCG church where the late Herbert Wigwe worshipped before his death, Dr. Siju Iluyomade, celebrated her 60th birthday yesterday, and she threw a colourful party, more or less a carnival, to celebrate this milestone.
The party had in attendance Lagos big boys and girls like Tony Elumelu as Flavour entertained guests. Before his death, Wigwe was a faithful member of the church where Siju’s husband pastored. The name of the RCCG parish is City of David, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Any time Wigwe was in town, you must have seen him in church on Sunday. He does not miss it. But beyond his physical presence, he used his goodwill and resources towards the growth of the City of David parish and the advancement of God’s work.
The late Wigwe was one of the biggest tithe payers in the City of David parish because of his vast wealth and net worth. He was a bank owner, so his tithe runs into millions of naira, but it went beyond paying tithe. The City of David has the best and finest church buildings in the whole of Nigeria and the best among RCCG parishes.
Wigwe was among those that God used to make it happen. He was the chairman of the building committee when the church was building that building. He pulled all stops from donating his money to rallying his wife, Chizoba, who died with him, to donate too.
When the City of David ran out of funds to continue the project, it was Wigwe who used his influence to facilitate a loan from Access Bank for the building to go ahead. Without his intervention, the project would have been an abandoned elephant project.
He went as far as paying for two office spaces for Access Bank at the church building, and he paid a 5-year rent for the two office spaces. This was done when the project was still a greenfield project, and that is remarkable.
Just before he died, two weeks ago
The City of David parish could not service the loan that Access Bank gave them, and the bank was breathing on their necks to pay up. It was still the same Wigwe who bailed them out by giving them a bail out of 1 billion naira in interest-free loans, which they are expected to pay back to him this year. Unfortunately, he died before they could pay back the loan.
Dr. Siju Iluyomade is the founder of the Arise Women Conference. The late Wigwe was one of the biggest donors to this cause and her NGO, and because of his deep pocket, the conference has evolved to be an annual conference that attracts Nigerian women all over the country.
After all this charity and benevolence, the right thing and common sense dictate that it is offensive and not appropriate to throw a lavish party a week after the death of such a man whose tithe and benevolence sustained your husband’s ministry when his body is still cold. I wonder what Wigwe would be feeling in the spirit world after seeing such a carnival go on last night at the Eko Hotel Lagos, just a week after his death.
This is a lesson for the living. You are only as important as your relevance and influence; once you are no longer there or present, the people that you moved the world and mountains for will move on.
It is a dog-eat-dog world, my friends, and this is why it is important to put yourself first. Be unapologetic and selfish about putting yourself first.
