The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), Major General (retd.) Muhammdu Buhari, Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of FRN and a former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, have congratulated the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Mr Tony Elumelu on his 60th birthday.
Furthermore, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Minority Caucus of the House, on Wednesday, rejoiced with the business mogul.
Buhari, in a goodwill message signed by his media aide, Femi Adesina, also said,
“Elumelu’s benevolence typifies his humble background and upbringing, starting out as a young banker, daring to dream of a modern and technologically-friendly financial institution, Standard Trust Bank and leading one of the biggest mergers with the UBA which made history and strengthened the economy.”
Also felicitating, Osinbajo said,
“This is indeed a milestone anniversary, one that calls for enormous gratitude to the Almighty for the grace, wisdom and good health He has bestowed on you thus far.”
In his own goodwill message, Obasanjo said,
“This is a milestone and I join your family, friends and well-wishers in recognising a life characterised by outstanding accomplishments, visible productivity and remarkable experiences through your 60 years on this earth under God’s grace.”
On his part, Clinton said,
“From your successful career in business to your amazing work with your (Tony Elumelu) foundation, you have accomplished so very much throughout your first remarkable six decades.”
Gbajabiamila said Elumelu, who is the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp, is worthy of being celebrated, owing to his humanitarian services to Nigeria and Africa.
This was according to a statement on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, titled, ‘Gbajabiamila felicitates Tony Elumelu on 60th birthday.’
According to Gbajabiamila, he must be satisfied with his achievements at 60.
He said,
“Tony Elumelu is one Nigerian that we all should celebrate. He has used his God-given resources to change the narrative in the lives of many of our compatriots. He has been an employer of labour who has put smiles on the faces of an uncountable number of people. In fact, the entire African continent is blessed to have Tony. We have seen how he transcends Nigerian borders with his activities and positively affects the lives of other Africans.”
In a separate statement, the Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, said over the years, Tony Elumelu had distinguished himself as-
“an exceptionally patriotic Nigerian; a quintessence of the Nigerian resilient spirit; an undisputed trailblazer with astonishing insight and extraordinary capacity to achieve success even in the face of daunting challenges.”
Ndudi, who is also Elumelu’s younger brother, said this in a statement titled, ‘Reps Minority Caucus Congratulates Foremost Nigerian Economist, Tony Elumelu, on 60th Birthday.’
The statement partly read,
“Our caucus and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians are proud of Tony Elumelu’s outstanding contributions towards the economic stability and development of our country, especially in stimulating greater productivity in critical sectors of our national economy.
“As representatives of the people, our caucus extols Tony Elumelu’s dedication in raising, mentoring, and empowering thousands of young entrepreneurs across the 54 African countries through his Tony Elumelu Foundation and other platforms, for which he has received numerous global recognitions, including being named in Times list of the 100 most influential people in the world”, he said.
cc: Punch Ng
