Media acclaim for Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa

‘The most important business autobiography of its generation’ Folahanmi Fagbule in The Economy

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede’s memoir Leaving the Tarmac: Buying a Bank in Africa has been grabbing media headlines since its publication in late March. In the first few days after its global launch, media coverage of the event reached around two million Nigerians, and fresh coverage keeps being recorded.

African Business magazine praised the memoir saying “Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede’s narrative describing the rise of Access Bank from a struggling, crisis-ridden bank in the nether regions of the Nigerian banking fraternity to become a top-five institution in the country is a remarkable one”, and The New African commended the book by saying “he takes us on a fascinating journey into the Nigerian banking world, where we can sit in on all the drama and high-stakes negotiations.”

In The Economy, reviewer Folahanmi Fagbule says he considers Leaving the Tarmac to be the most important business autobiography of its generation “and certainly the most important that focuses on a critically important segment of Nigeria’s economic history – the spectacular banking sector revolution of the last thirty years.”

Several media titles reported that Mr Aig-Imoukhuede’s memoir is not merely a retelling of his days at Access Bank. It also offers insight into his views about the  transformation that must occur in Nigeria if the nation is to grow economically and the people are to flourish.

In its coverage This Day says: “Aig-Imoukhuede … urged Nigerians and governments to join hands to defeat the menace (of corruption) before it reduced the country to the status of a failed state.”

In total, more than 100 titles have heaped praise on Mr Aig-Imoukhuede and his memoir.

“I thank the media for the warm and encouraging reception it has given my memoir,” Aigboje says. “The book contains messages critical to Nigeria’s development. These are messages that need to be broadly relayed and engaged with and I look forward to a continued spirit of partnership from the Nigerian media.”