My Lords Spiritual, My Lords Temporal, The Family of Late Apostle Hayford Alile, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Earlier on today, the stockbroking community together with Mrs Patience Alile, her children and grand-children gathered on the trading floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange House, the House which Apostle Hayford Alile of blessed memory often called his 2nd home, to say goodbye to a loving and God-fearing husband, father, grand-father and pioneer Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
I could not but note some of the poignant adjectives made by well- wishers to describe Apostle Alile, such as, “he was a fair man”, “he personified humility”, “the stock exchange has become what it is today due to the leadership of Apostle Alile,” “he was deeply committed to building Nigerian institutions”, “he touched the lives of people in the thousands”. As his dear wife, Aunty Patience, rang the closing gong to signify the end of the trading day in his honour, never had I heard such loud applause from the Brokers on the floor in the several closing sessions that I have been privileged to attend. It was clearly a demonstration of the respect and love the Broking community has for Late Apostle Alile and his family.
Not only did he work tirelessly to lay the foundation for the contemporary Exchange its users are privileged to enjoy today, he was responsible for training the vast majority of Stockbrokers of his era. Having only met 3 on assumption of office he ended up training over 180 stockbrokers by the time he retired in 1999. I was made to understand today that of the roughly 250 operating stockbroking Houses, he was responsible directly or indirectly for training or mentoring 90% of their CEO’s.
There are many other pioneering and unprecedented achievements recorded under Apostle Alile’s tenure as DG of the Exchange but are too numerous to mention on this short occasion so I hope the family will take it upon themselves to document his successes, his feats and the challenges he faced on his way up not only for the benefit of the unborn
generations of stockbrokers, but for posterity of corporate Nigeria. For those of us whose profession revolves around the stock market, Apostle Alile’s name is synonymous with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as a matter of fact he is truly worthy to be called “Mr Stock Exchange.” He lived and breathed the Stock Market, a fact that can be corroborated by his family. Some of you may not know that Apostle Alile, led the physical movement of the Exchange’s operations to its current location and the ingenuity and boldness with which its implementation was undertaken constitute a tribute to him and former director of the Exchange, Prince M. A. Odedina, for their foresight of conceiving the idea.
Apostle Alile, though slight in frame and soft spoken in nature, was a humble, effective and quiet achiever who bestrode the corporate landscape with dignity and forthrightness as exemplified by the several multinational, non-governmental organisations and sovereign boards he sat on. He was a highly sought-after personality and he did not mind to spare of his time in passing down his reservoir of knowledge and immense intellect. Even most recently, the Exchange benefited from his wise counsel and measured contributions when he agreed to serve on the Exchanges’s Membership Verification Panel, whose activities assisted the National Council in finalising the Exchange’s membership register.
We must not overlook the fact that Apostle Alile served the Nigerian Stock Exchange for 24 years unblemished and never had any rancour or disagreements with the several Presidents and Council members, of which, my late father- in- law, the Ogbeni Oja of Ijebu land, Chief Bayo Kuku was one. I was therefore privileged to have known him in relatively close quarters and I am acutely aware of the very deep affection they had for each other. Though one a devout catholic and the other a devout muslim, they both attended each other’s religious ceremonies and their children are bosom friends till date.
As the journey to his ancestral home begins, I salute a distinguished and noble Nigerian as he joins the likes of Chief Babatunde Jose, Chief Samuel Asabia, Mr Gamaliel Onosode and other formidable architects of the Nigerian Stock Exchange who have departed this earthly plain.
We honor his legacy and mourn his loss alongside your family and the people of Edo State where his remains will be interred.
May his soul find peace profound. Amen
ABIMBOLA OGUNBANJO PRESIDENT, NATIONAL COUNCIL, NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE