A farewell tribute to Olabode Mubasheer Agusto (OMA)

Jimi Ogbobine is head of consulting at Agusto Consulting Limited and also heads the Research of Agusto & Co, Nigeria’s leading rating & research company.

Earlier this year, I was privileged to introduce Mr. Bode Agusto to the audience at his annual Macro Session in Lagos. In doing this, I described him in just one simple word – “mwalimu”, which means “teacher” in the Swahili language.

Mr. Bode Agusto was first a teacher and coach before every other endearing quality – amongst many – that he did have. And what a patient teacher he was. He loved to teach and to provide instructions especially in his favourite subjects – macroeconomics and country risk, business strategy, financial statement analysis, politics, history and policy making. And he had numbers in his DNA. How he loved to crunch numbers.

I did have the good fortune of working closely with him and I took the opportunity as an apprenticeship. Meeting him and having the chance to understudy him was truly a life defining opportunity.

We shared lots of memorable moments together that will always remain with me. When we had client engagements, Mr. Agusto would have you sit right beside him staring into the same laptop so he could take you through the work plan step by step and line by line. His avuncular approach to teaching, coaching and mentoring made one really fond of him.

In the course of executing client briefs, Mr. Agusto and I shared train rides in Kaduna, walked together on Marina to client offices, waited patiently for Arik Air and their flight delays, went sightseeing in Dakar, criss-crossed Accra amidst so many other unique moments. And how much he loved “giveaways” as my first iPhone was a gift from him and the thoughts he put to this purchase was deeply touching. However, the high points would always be the intellectual engagements and discussions with him and the exposure to his deep cerebral offerings.

I had a pressing in my heart to pray for him more and more in the last few weeks which only increased over the last few days of his life but nevertheless, I’m submissive to God the Sovereign on this outcome. C’est la vie.

My heart goes out to his wife, his kids and his grandkids and the rest of his family. May the Lord comfort you at this hour of grief. My heart is heavy for you and can’t comprehend what this transition will mean for you.

I’d miss Mr. Agusto but will always remain grateful and thankful for the chance to know him and work closely with him.

Farewell Sir.