By Singto Saro-Wiwa
Adim Jibunoh is an engineer. Not of the standard variety; he is, in fact, a career banker with a first-class degree in Economics and has had no training whatsoever in the field of engineering. But as Director of Business Development at HH, this distinguished gentleman builds our companies, setting them up to become tomorrow’s corporate behemoths.
In real terms, Adim has been the unseen hand behind the establishment of subsidiaries like Avon HMO, Tenoil, Heirs Insurance Brokers and, more recently, Heirs Insurance – filing, registering, lobbying for and essentially incubating these entities until they’re ready to soar into the economic stratosphere and become leaders in their respective sectors.
It’s a tough job by any measure, but he tackles it with quiet resilience. He’s the man behind the curtain, pulling the levers and turning the cogs that framed these strong brands, and then he sets them up with the CEOs that oversee their surprising growth trajectories.
So when one is this busy in a high stakes environment, how does one unwind? Glass of whiskey? Tennis at the club? If you were Adim, you’d prefer to jump from a dangerous, unfathomable height toward a hard surface or body of water, with nothing but a fibreglass helmet and a springy rope separating you from death’s cold embrace.
“If you have a lot of stress, I find bungee jumping helps to relieve some of that stress,” he said during our interview.
Bungee jumpers hurtle toward the earth at up to 56 miles per hour in some cases, sometimes faster. When asked how being faced with the possibility of hitting the ground at this speed can alleviate stress, Adim said, “For me, it’s fun. It makes me feel lighter; it makes me feel free. And it’s a calculated risk – you can jump and you see where you’re jumping and you know what you’re being held with. I don’t think it would end badly.”
His confidence in the equipment probably stems from the fact that he is making these jumps in Lucerne, Switzerland, where Adim says he vacations as often as he can. An active person, Adim enjoys taking his four children, aged 10 to 22, on nature excursions into the mountains, where they can hike, row and generally take in some clean, fresh air while they bond as a family.
“It’s my favorite place to vacation,” he says, describing Lucerne as, “quiet” and “different.”
“I think [the Swiss] outlook on life is different from the typical American’s or European’s. I go anytime I’m free.”
If you are wondering how it came to be that we have a supposed daredevil at the helm of corporate affairs, be rest assured that Mr. Jibunoh’s placid, deliberate manner is not a mere façade.
He says of himself, “I think I have a calm outlook on things. I try and look beyond the veneer. For instance, if there’s a fire outbreak, I won’t just jump up and run. I would first dimension the issues, know what to do, and then do it. I try not to ever be erratic, which has helped me because if I was erratic or spontaneous with a lot of things I do, I would make a lot of mistakes.”
Mr. Jibunoh never runs away from anything. Certainly not from adventure.
