Elumelu’s visionary leadership in turbulent times.

By Kalu Okoronkwo

When a crisis strikes, true leadership is stripped bare of corporate titles and measured instead by empathy, resolve, and decisive action. On September 16, when fire gutted Afriland Towers on Broad Street, Lagos, one of the jewel assets of the Tony Elumelu’s vast conglomerate, the billionaire investor and philanthropist did not remain cloaked in the comfort of distance, he cut short his trip overseas, returned home, and faced the tragedy head on.

What followed was a statement of deep pain, a heartfelt message to the bereaved families, friends, and colleagues, laden with empathy, sorrow, and a resolute promise of support.

“No word can capture the magnitude of this loss; not for the families who loved them, not for the friends who valued them and not for both of us who worked besides them. Yesterday (the day of the fire incident) was a stark reminder of what really matters: our irreplaceable people, those who walked through our doors each day and share our mission. I learnt of this on my way to the US, enroute to New York for UNGA. I have to cut short my trip to return to Lagos as a mark of respect to our lost colleagues. As we navigate this grief, I urge all to reach out to those who are receiving care and in the coming days, we will convene colleagues to honour the memories of the departed as we provide support to their families. “A minute silence will be observed today at mid-day across our group of companies, may this never happen again in our group and may the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace” he prayed.

Elumelu did not end his statement of grieve and mourning without recognizing those who supported in one way or the other:  from emergency responders to first aid workers, to members of the public who showed courage and compassion.

Leadership is the pivot of all human activities as everything rises and falls with leadership. In fact, leadership is so central to human endeavors that the greatest leader of all times, our Lord Jesus Christ in one of his leadership classes with his students (disciples) remarked that the absence of visionary leadership is catastrophic “if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch”.

The event leading to the fire outbreak at the building of Afriland Properties, a company that came out from UBA Group and became a separate corporate entity, where about 10 lives were lost and properties worth hundreds of millions of naira destroyed, has indeed tested the leadership prowess of Mr. Tony Onyemachi Elumelu (CFR), fondly called TOE, by friends, business associates and admirers.  Elumelu, Chairman of both UBA Plc and Heirs Holdings, has demonstrated that he is a leader prepared to lead from the front against all odds.

His immediate response to the Afriland Towers tragedy was both strategic and emotional. His message to bereaved families was not just a corporate sympathy, it was a reaffirmation of one of the things he has long preached: that business must serve humanity. By promising to support families of those affected, Elumelu positioned himself not just as the head of a conglomerate, but as a custodian of lives, values, and hope.

His action fits squarely into the global playbook of crisis leadership. When Howard Schultz returned as Starbucks CEO in 2008 amidst plummeting sales, his first major act was not financial restructuring, but reconnecting with employees, closing stores for a day to retrain staff, a move that signaled care before commerce.

When Johnson & Johnson faced the infamous Tylenol poisoning crisis in 1982, then, CEO James Burke pulled 31 million bottles off shelves, a costly move that prioritized lives over quarterly earnings. Likewise, Elumelu’s decision to stand with victims’ families illustrates that in crisis, empathy is not weakness; it is the ultimate currency of trust.

In each of these cases and now with Elumelu, the same management principle emerges: stakeholder-centric leadership, where employees, customers, and communities matter as much as shareholders. It is this approach that defines resilience and sets enduring leaders apart.

The Afriland Towers, is a seven storey building housing UBA Plc branch, United Capital, Federal Inland Revenue Service and other notable corporate entities. According to an earlier statement by the company, the on-site fire champions activated the fire protocol immediately there was a sign of smoke at about 1:20pm that fateful day while the first responders came in about 20 minutes later.

The cause of the fire was traced to the inverter room located in the basement of the Towers which generated thick black smoke and intense heat that quickly spread rapidly throughout the building. Hence staff members were forced to jump through the windows to escape because the smoke spread rapidly throughout the building. The intensity of the fire created significant disorder and hindered effective communication.

Contrary to speculations by some people that the towers lacked safety protocols and fire alarm system, Afriland Properties management clarified that the building is equipped with fire alarms and safety systems and its installed in all floors of the building.

It however noted that while the alarms were triggered and the pandemonium that followed, some occupants of the building said that they did not hear the fire alarm which led to chaos that made evacuation an uphill task.

To underscore the safety of the Towers, Afriland Properties noted that “the building is designed with two dedicated emergency staircases providing access from all floors, as well as multiple exit points on the ground floor” noting that “the rapid spread of smoke severely limited the use of these escape routes”.

The statement also said that Afriland Towers is equipped with fire safety features, including smoke extractors, fire reels, and extinguishers, all in compliance with recommendations from both the Federal and State Fire Services. “It is important to note that the fire was contained within its point of origin. We also engage safety regulators regularly to certify that our buildings meet all requirements for occupancy, and there are valid certifications to verify this” it further said.

It should be noted that Afriland Properties Plc is a break away company from UBA Group with its major investor as Heirs Holdings, as it is in UBA Plc, United Capital, African Prudential among other companies under Heirs Holding stockholding. This implies that they are not subsidiaries but separate corporate entities with its shareholders at the time of spurn off.

For years, UBA Group had ingrained environmental safety through regular fire drills, a proactive principle aligned with global best practices like Toyota’s kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement. What happened at Afriland Towers was tragic, but the systems Elumelu has institutionalized underscore a leader who does not wait for crisis to act, but prepares for it.

Regular fire drills, safety audits, and proactive risk management have been part of the bank’s culture, borne out of its core values of enterprise, excellence, and resilience among others. These were not perfunctory exercises, but deliberate measures to safeguard lives and property.

It is commendable that Afriland Properties has said that the building will undergo a full structural, safety, and regulatory review and certified safe for habitation before anyone is asked to return insisting that staff welfare and confidence remain paramount.

“We are prioritising the wellbeing of all staff. This includes precautionary medical evaluations, structured assistance during this grieving period, and counselling support. In addition, management is reviewing long-term support mechanisms to ensure our people are cared for and valued” Afriland Properties management noted.

The building, it said, will remain closed until it undergoes thorough safety audits, deep post-fire cleaning, and such necessary reconstruction or system upgrades while additional measures will also be implemented to restore the environment and ensure it is fully habitable.

The Afriland Towers incident tested the resilience of the Elumelu’s vast empire, but it also revealed the character of its leader. By choosing empathy over detachment, presence over absence, and action over rhetoric, Tony Elumelu exemplified what it means to lead with vision in turbulent times.

His response was not just emotional, it was resolute. He reinforced UBA’s long standing commitment to environmental safety, fire drills, and preventive measures, demonstrating that preparedness is a leadership responsibility, not an afterthought. This reflects the proactive risk management model advocated by global thinkers such as Peter Drucker, who argued that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”

For Elumelu, creating that future has always meant more than running profitable businesses. His philosophy of Africapitalism the belief that Africa’s private sector must lead in driving both economic prosperity and social wealth frames his leadership. It is why he invests not just in towers and banks, but in people.

Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, over 20,000 African entrepreneurs have been funded and mentored, building a generation empowered to transform the continent. In that light, his support to bereaved families is not an isolated act of kindness, but part of a broader worldview: that capitalism without humanity is hollow.

He has shown that visionary leadership is not merely about steering organizations toward profit and expansion. It is about building institutions that can withstand crises because they are anchored in values of care, responsibility, and shared humanity.

In times of grief, the bereaved do not merely look for answers they yearn for empathy. Elumelu’s message to the families of those who lost their lives, to friends, and to well-wishers was imbued with compassion and sobriety.

He spoke not as a distant executive, but as a fellow mourner who recognized the depth of their pain. His words extended beyond condolence; they carried reassurance that the families would not walk this journey of sorrow alone. His statement was both comforting and unifying, reminding all that in tragedy lies an opportunity to come together as one family, bound by shared humanity. It is about ensuring that even when flames consume bricks and mortar, they do not consume hope, dignity, and trust.

The Afriland Towers tragedy is more than a corporate mishap; it is a litmus test for Nigerian business leadership. In a nation where too often victims are forgotten and tragedies are buried under bureaucracy, Elumelu’s example raises a provocative question: Will Nigerian boardrooms learn to lead with both head and heart? Or will they continue to treat human loss as an inconvenient footnote in annual reports?

Tony Elumelu’s handling of the Afriland Towers fire reminds us that leadership in turbulent times is not about avoiding crisis but confronting it with empathy and resolve. It is about standing with the afflicted, taking responsibility, and using influence to heal wounds. His actions were consistent with his philanthropy, his youth empowerment agenda, and his African Capitalism creed that true wealth is measured not just in assets but in impact.

Now, the call is clear: Let every corporate leader in Africa adopt this model of fierce resolve and empathetic stewardship. Let businesses exist not only to profit but to protect, not only to grow but to give.

In a continent where crisis is too often met with silence, Elumelu has shown that leadership is loudest when it speaks through care.

Kalu Okoronkwo is a communications strategist, a leadership and good governance advocate dedicated to impactful societal development and can be reached via kalu.okoronkwo@gmail.com