Tony Elumelu talks about his father-in-law, Pa Israel Ogbuewho just died
There are people who walk into your life and quietly become part of its foundation. My Father-in-law, Chief Israel C. Ogbue was one of those people for me and his passing leaves a space that cannot be filled.
In January 2005, I led the merger between Standard Trust Bank and UBA Group โ still recognised as the most transformative banking merger in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As GMD/CEO of the newly combined institution, I carried the weight of a singular mandate to transform a single-country bank into a pan-African powerhouse. The journey demanded the right people.
Chief joined the UBA Board as a Non-Executive Director in that same year, bringing with him decades of senior leadership at the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria, NAL Merchant Bank, and a reputation for integrity that preceded him.
His peers recognised quickly what those of us close to him had long felt, that he possessed something rare; a combination of wisdom, steadiness, and principle that made everyone around him want to be better.
UBA Board appointed him Chairman in 2011. He served until 2013, and in that time, he reinforced UBAโs Governance. The culture of accountability and long-term thinking he reinforced continues to live inside UBA Group today.
But his professional titles capture only a little of who he truly was. A man of deep and unshakeable faith. A strong christian, devoted husband, father, and patriarch whose family was, without question, his greatest pride.
It is with a grief that words struggle to hold that my wife Dr. Awele Elumelu and I share that Chief passed peacefully on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On his 99th birthday.
A life that long, and that beautifully lived, is its own kind of monument. The kind that doesn’t crumble.
Rest well, Chief O as I fondly called him. We will miss you dearly.
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