₦airaland Forum

Trustee raises alarm over $50bn Mobolaji Bank Anthony property•Bilking ongoing for 29yrs — Queen Cole reveals
•Family, Probated Trustees seek IGP’s intervention

Former Council President of the Lagos Stock Exchange and philanthropist, Sir Mobolaji Bank Anthony died on May 26,1991 , leaving behind over $50billion worth of estates scattered all over Nigeria ,the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Isle of Jersey.

In addition to these, were 22 institutions he championed with regular annual and other huge grants.

Regrettably, his family and members of the probated trustees disclosed that some individuals had been conniving with some banks and registrars to siphon huge amount of money from the properties and institutions left behind by the late foremost industrialist.

Spokesperson and Executive Probated Trustee of the Estate of Sir Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Queen Irene Cole, disclosed that bilking of the late Bank Anthony’s estate had been ongoing for 29 years at the expense of the institutional beneficiaries, among who are virtually impaired persons at the Nigerian Society for the Blind.

The septuagenarian who was flanked by immediate family members of the late Bank Anthony and their lawyers , clarified that the matter at hand was not a family dispute but a criminal act she alleged was masterminded by three persons (names withheld ). Two of them are dead, with the remaining one still living, according to her.

Explaining in a wavery and shaky voice, the septuagenarian said: “ In his(late Mobolaji Bank Anthony ) last Will of April 10, 1991, Sir Bank-Anthony nominated Trustees. Only one of them got probated ( at the time) after the transition of some original Trustees.

However, the Will bars a single Trustee from acting solely. At this juncture, the other individuals teamed up to give a facade of being properly in charge. They proceeded to coldly bilk the estate’s large concerns in Nigeria, the UK and the Isles of Jersey for over 29 years, at the expense of all named institutional beneficiaries and worthy causes that were dear to the heart of Sir Bank Anthony.

“It became a free for all as each one appropriated what he or she could reach before the other. Beyond criminal negligence, the strong threads of collusion in this respect are linked to Bankers, Registrars and certain persons in the shadows.

“With the transition of the original executors/ trustees of the will, two of who have died , the group was now left with the third and main kingpin, who went haywire: converting millions of money meant for different beneficiaries; conniving with sundry Registrars over shares held by the Testator and declaring to his larger family that they were left out of the Will – giving them 200million naira to share.

“By a swipe of flawless confidence trickery, he got the entire clan to reecho after him; that they had no say in the will and the sum of 5million each person got from the bulk was a gift from his deep pockets and large heart.

“Using a multi-layered network of strange law enforcement top-notch, footmen, rough-necks and enforcers; they bilked the estate for over three decades! Within this period, they left the beneficiaries out, in the cold with nothing: through concealment, deceit and outright violation of the trust, for personal gains.

Property abandoned

‘In all of these, not even one property was renovated. Instead the cherished “Fountain Pen” house where Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony lived and died was handed over to a dubious developer for N5M at Ikoyi and nothing for the Beneficiaries to date”.

Assassination attempt
Along the line, she said efforts by the probated Trustees spearheaded by her , almost led to their murder by the agents of the gang. She recalled how she and her Personal Assistant were taken at gunpoint and threatened with death, if they did not release some original documents.

She said “ Myself and my Personal Assistant, Mr Amariwu ,were taken to the Lion building division in Lagos Island and later released. Unfortunately , my domestic staff ended up being handcuffed and locked away at Lion Building Police Cells. The intimidation and impunity continued with the domestic staff being ferried to Abuja and held incommunicado under severe dehumanising conditions for one month”

Not done with the murderous desperation to quieten all legitimate inquiries into its nefarious activities and stranglehold over the multibillion-dollar estate, Queen Cole alleged that one of the impostors instigated uniformed men to invade Mr Amariwu’s residence, abducted him and railroaded him in Ikoyi prison on false charges.

“ The dark reason behind the unbridled harassment, death threats and incessant arrests and detention was because I have knowledge and proof of Sir Banks Will: which was a most compassionate request to 20 Nigerian corporate entities, laudable causes and some other beneficiaries. As it were, I exposed an almost three decades filthy secret! Hence, the knells were unleashed to silence me and everyone around me , by all means possible! “.

Queen Cole stated that the atrocities of the group came to limelight after one of the granddaughters of late Bank Anthony, Ms Funmiade Bank-Anthony , raised the alarm on how the entire Bank Anthony’s family was kept in the dark from his 48 properties.

The publication, according to Queen Cole who described the late philanthropist as her Godfather, further revealed the true position of things.

For instance, she said: “It became known that the principal actor in the entire charade was not even a probated trustee and had no locus to act as trustee.

“Suddenly, in the heat of this passion, came a complete turnaround by the gang. They claimed to be sorry and were ready to give N200 million to the descendants of Sir Bank-Anthony to share at N5 million each. They were urged to forget about the corporate move to get more money and properties.

“Today, through the concerted efforts of the probated Trustees/ Executors / Executrixes, under the Lead Trustee; Dr Deinde Aganga-Williams Nee Adio-Moses who was nominated in the Will for over 29 years without informing her that she had been nominated. Justice S.A. Onigbanjo requested that she must be found and today she is the Lead Trustee of this Estate. The leader of the gang and his henchman are now within the arms and grip of the law.”, she informed.

Recovery stage
Another challenge confronted by the probated Trustees /Executors according to Queen Irene, was the recovery of the late sage’s bank accounts and registrars . So far, she said four registrars with shares running into several millions of naira and three banks where monies were allegedly withdrawn inappropriately had been identified. One of the old generation banks had eight accounts.

Wondering why banks and registrar’s would allow the alleged culprits to run accounts without being probated Trustees of the Estate accounts, she revealed “ when we served one of the Registrars (names withheld) the necessary document on November 6,2021, we discovered that money had been removed on November 11, 2021. We quickly complained to the police.

“The money was from Sir Bank-Anthony that had been abandoned. Later, they claimed the money was sent back to the companies. Whilst we were in the police station, both the head of compliance said that they don’t know how much money that was sent back because they said they mixed it with other clients’ money.”.

Calls on IGP
She therefore, appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Alkali Usman Baba to look into a number of banks or Registrars with any account belonging to late Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, especially those she claimed had been intentionally refusing with delayed tactics.

Expressing optimism that the IGP’s intervention would provide the necessary relief, Queen Cole said, “I believe this will solve our problem. It is strongly hoped that the deprived institutional beneficiaries and descendants of this famous philanthropist shall mime songs of thanksgiving for a new enlivening reign of fresh air,” she stated.

jideflash:
Wow. W50bn dollars

inoki247:
I'm very sure when all this people dey acquire all this property na yansh my grandpa dey pursue up nd down....

ceejayluv:
$50 billion?? And his name wasn't on the same List with Pablo Escobar as world's richest as at then?
Lemme read the article again.

frog12:
how did he too get all the money and properties?
remember he was Lagos governor in the 60s.

naptu2:
Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony



Writing about this man's contributions to Lagos is not an easy task. That's because he did not like publicity, adulation or making a lot of noise about the things that he did. Some of the things that I'm going to write here are straight from my memory and you might not find them online because he did not like to trumpet his achievements.


Business

Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony was one of the wealthiest people in Nigeria during his time. His father owned A. Bank Anthony and Sons Ltd, a firm of undertakers. The firm still exists at the lower end of Odunlami Street on Lagos Island (that place is well known for having a lot of coffin makers and undertakers). However, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony initially went to work for the Posts and Telecommunications Department (P&T) as a junior clerk before resigning to venture into the business world. He traveled to Germany and England in 1931 to study palm oil making and later established M. de Bank Brothers, a general merchant firm originally trading in Palm Oil and then patent medicine. The venture could not succeed because he lacked the funds needed to import the machines. But an opportunity presented itself when Henry Carr and St. Mathew Daniel died in Lagos and their families wanted monuments erected for them on their graves at the Ikoyi Cemetery. Mobolaji took the contract of supplying tombstones and with the money realised he got himself into real business.


Mobolaji Bank-Anthony used the money he realised and switched to importing watches, clocks and fountain pens. At one time, he was the third largest seller of fountain pens in Nigeria after UAC and the United Trading Company. In the 1950s he brought in a few European firms to Nigeria and was one of the earliest Nigerians to become chairman of a European company when in 1950, after introducing an Italian firm to the Nigerian market, he became chairman of the Italian construction firm Borini Prono and Company. The firm was later involved in the construction of the Ijora Causeway, Benin-Asaba road and the Sapele-Onithsa road.

He also brought the American firm, Foremost Dairies to Nigeria and was initially a minority investor in the firm. He became the largest investor in the 1970s when Nigerians took control of the company. Foremost Dairies made the very popular Samco drink. Foremost Dairies (Samco), along with UAC (Walls, Big Dip and Supreme) and Fan (Fan Ice, Fan Yogo) were the most popular makers of "ice creams" in Nigeria in the 1970s and '80s. He was a director of Friesland Foods Nigeria, which eventually took over Foremost Dairies. Friesland had shares in the West African Milk Company (WAMCO) which makes the very popular Peak Milk (it later completely took over the company).


Bank-Anthony was also involved in setting up the Nigerian branch of Law Union and Rock Insurance Company in 1950. It had T.A. Braithwaite as head of the brokerage office; Bank Anthony and Braithwaite also set up an unsuccessful insurance partnership.He was a minority investor in Aero-Contractors before indigenous shares were acquired by the Ibru Organization. At one time, he held the distributional rights to cars manufactured by Rootes Group. He acquired shares in a few companies during his business career including Weide Nigeria Limited that dealt with completely knocked down electrical parts, an Italian partnership called Motor Parts Industries, a plywood business venture in Cross River State, the Nigerian arm of May and Baker and Pressed Metal Works in Ikeja, Lagos. He was also a director of Mobil Nigeria. He was the council president of the Lagos Stock Exchange, a fellow of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce.


Philantropy and adoptions

Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony donated huge sums of money to charitable causes, but you'll barely hear about it because he did not like to make a show of his donations. He was never a member of the Donation Circuit.

He donated massive sums of money to schools, granted scholarships to a lot of children and even adopted a large number of children (I know some of them).

He witnessed a terrible traffic accident when he was younger and it horrified him. He vowed to himself that he would do something for people who are in that situation and in 1977 he constructed a 140- bed accident ward for the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos. In 1990 he donated the 130-bed Ayinke House to the Obstetrics and Gynoecology Ward of Ikeja General Hospital. It was named after his mother. He funded a cancer research project at the University of Ibadan and endowed many professorial chairs at universities across Nigeria.


The National Stadium

Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony was a sports lover and he sponsored many athletes and tournaments. If I remember correctly, he was also a member of the Nigerian Olympic Committee.


Dear Diary, you might remember when I told you that many people often say that Lagos was not planned, but they are wrong because Lagos was well planned. The problem is that people keep doing whatever they want and they've ended up distorting the masterplan. A great example is the case of FESTAC Town which was planned relatively recently (the 1970s) with a proper sewer system, good roads, green areas and so on, but which has been destroyed by the residents.

The Lagos Executive Development Board (LEDB) was responsible for developing many parts of Lagos like Victoria Island, Yaba and so on. When the LEDB was planning Surulere in the 1940s and '50s, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony put a lot of pressure on them to reserve some land for a new National Stadium. The LEDB gave in to this pressure and committee was set up to raise funds for and oversee the building of the stadium. The famous businessman and sports administrator, Chief JK Randle was a member of the committee, but he died in 1956 before the stadium was completed.

The stadium was completed in 1961 and it was called Surulere Stadium. Surulere Stadium was reconstructed in the early 1970s because Nigeria had won the right to host the Second All-Africa Games. The newly reconstructed stadium was called the National Stadium.


Honours

Mobolaji Bank-Anthony was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953 and in 1957 he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). He was knighted in 1963, receiving the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).


He received the traditional titles of Chief Ba'loro of Lagos in 1968 and The Otunba-Lofin of Ijebuland in 1988.


He was honoured with the Stella dclla Solidarieta Italiana de la Classe, Italy, in 1957 and in June 1989 he received the Most Excellent Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy (Grande Ufficiale).


He also received the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 1979.


Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony has also been honoured by many universities and research institutions. In 1968 he was conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Laws (Hon. LL.D) of the University of Ibadan and in 1986 he was made an honorary fellow of the Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria. He was made an honorary patron of the Nigerian Academy of Science in October 1988 and in the same year he was also given the Honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon. D.Litt) of the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria.



Death


Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony died on May 26, 1991. Maryam Babangida drove herself (if I remember correctly, there were only two other cars escorting her) to his house at number 29, Okotie Ebo Close, Ikoyi (very close to State House Dodan Barracks) to commiserate with his widow, Lady Olamide "Lande" Bank-Anthony.

He specified in his will that he did not want a lavish funeral, neither did he want the government to name anything after him. The Federal Government, led by President Ibrahim Babangida, disobeyed his wish and renamed Airport Road in Ikeja after him. It became the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way. The Lagos State Government also named several schools after him in recognition of his contributions to the education sector.


Pictures 1 and 2) Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony.

Picture 3) Ayinke House.

Picture 4) The Governor-General of Nigeria, Sir James Robertson, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony and someone else. This was at a ceremony to honour Ifeajuna who was the first Black African to win a gold medal at an international sports event when he won at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

SocialJustice:
No be only 50 billion dollars na 50 trillion dollars.