By Olakunle Aderinokun
Fifteen years. That is how long it has been since the world lost Olutayo Adisa Adeleye Aderinokun (Tayo Aderinokun), my brother, my mentor, my benefactor, and one of Nigeria’s most extraordinary banking icons.
15 years have done nothing to dim the memory of who he was.
Most people remember Olutayo Aderinokun, who I fondly call Brother Tayo, for the institutions he built, among which were First Marina Trust, Day Waterman College, and GTBank, which he co-founded alongside Fola Adeola and helped grow into one of Africa’s most celebrated financial brands. Those achievements are well documented and deserve every tribute they receive.
But my testimony is personal. In 1985, he recognised the academic brilliance in me and facilitated my transfer from a not- so-influential secondary school to Lagos Baptist Academy, then one of Nigeria’s finest secondary schools, to continue my study there at Form 3 (now JSS 3). That single act set the course of my life.
When my WASC results were released in 1988, he was at our house the very next day, celebrating my excellent grades as though the achievement were his own.
After our father passed in 1981, he became my anchor. Through secondary school and university, I never lacked, not financially, not emotionally.
And then there was the internship at First Marina Trust sometime in 1991 after my 200 level. Every Monday without fail, he insisted I come see him so he could give me money beyond the allowance I was already earning. Not because he had to. Simply because that was who he was.
Our last meaningful conversation was in his house on a Sunday in February 2011, just about two weeks before he collapsed and was hospitalised . We talked for hours about life, banking, and the future in company with two of my friends. Before we left, I quietly asked for his support on a project. He gave it with his characteristic smile, then gestured that I could take more if I needed it.
Looking back, it felt as though he already knew we won’t see again.
We planned to meet the following week. He asked that we postpone. That was the week he collapsed, and he never came back to us.
Brother Tayo did not simply build institutions, he built people. He did not simply create wealth, he created opportunities. He did not simply inspire admiration, he inspired transformation.
As we mark his 15th memorial , I carry his legacy not as a distant memory, but as a living obligation: to lift others the way he lifted me.
Sweet are the memories of the righteous. Continue to rest peacefully, Brother Tayo.
