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Michael Ibru

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Olorogun
Michael Ibru
OFR
Charles III in a conversation with Michael Ibru and his wife, Cecilia Ibru at a dinner event held at The Ritz Hotel, London, 1980.
Born
Michael Christopher Onajirevbe Ibru

(1930-12-25)25 December 1930
British Nigeria
Died6 September 2016(2016-09-06) (aged 85)
Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S.
Known for
Spouse5, including Cecilia Ibru
Children17, including Oskar Ibru and Elvina Ibru

Michael Onajirevbe Ibru (25 December 1930[1] – 6 September 2016) was a Nigerian pioneering Industrialist, founder of the Ibru Organization and patriarch of the Ibru family.[2][3]

Background and career

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Ibru was born to the family of Janet Ibru and Peter Epete Ibru, a missionary who also worked at the Igbobi Orthopedic Hospital, Lagos.[4] His family included a number of well-known merchants. Amongst them was Chief Osadjere of Olomu, a wealthy 19th century merchant who built the first story building in Urhobo land in 1914; he was Michael Ibru’s maternal grandfather. His son, Ovedje, expanded his father’s commerce during the beginning decades of British colonial rule in Urhoboland in the 20th century. Ovedje Osadjere was a warrant chief in colonial-era Nigeria and reigned as Ohworode (King) R' Olomu (1924–1949).[5] Michael Ibru grew up under Ovedje's influence. [6][7]

Ibru attended Igbobi College and acquired a school certificate in 1951. After secondary school, Michael joined the United African Company as a management trainee. In 1956, a few years after joining U.A.C he resigned from the company and started a partnership, which he called Laibru. The corporate entity was in partnership with an English expatriate, Jimmy Large. Starting in 1957, Ibru was a pioneer in distributing frozen fish in Nigeria. In 1963, chief Ibru chartered his first fishing vessel from Taiyo Gyogo of Japan, and two years later, in partnership with a Japanese conglomerate, he founded the Osadjere fishing company, one of the largest fishing companies in the world. With Mr. Gyogo holding 30 percent of the equity and providing management for deep-sea Fishing trawler and shrimpers, the company began operation with three long-distance freezer trawlers. Ibru began exporting tiger prawns and shrimps while simultaneously importing frozen fish from Russia and Holland.

By the end of the 1960s, Ibru had branched out into other areas of the economy. In 1969, Ibru founded Rutam Motors, a transportation arm of his business that dealt in the marketing and distribution of Mazda, Saviem, Tata, and Jeep brands of automobiles. Later, the federal government appointed Rutam the major distributor of Peugeot vehicles in Nigeria. In 1965, Ibru established Aden Farm, a large palm oil plantation that also included citrus and pineapple, on 800 hectares of land in the old Bendel State. He later acquired Mitchell Farm in 1973 from its American owners, Alizar, who had established it a decade earlier. The farm grew to become the largest supplier of day-old chicks and processed poultry in West Africa. In 1974, another business enterprise, Nigeria Hardwoods Company Ltd, a logging, sawmilling, and wood processing company, was acquired. The company, owned by the Lathem Group, UK, was originally established in 1919 and exported logs of hard wood.

Over the years, the Ibru Organization expanded into other areas such as shipping, hospitality, banking, real estate, publishing, aviation ,oil and gas, amongst others.[8][9] In 1981, the Ibru organization's annual turnover was estimated at around $400m[10] roughly equivalent to $1.4B in 2025[11]

Honours

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He was conferred with an honorary Doctor of law degree (Hon. LL.D) by the University of Ibadan in 1978.[12] Ibru a traditional aristocrat was the Otota (prime Minister) of Agbara-Otor and was awarded the national honour of Officer of the Federal Republic in 1981.[13] He received the outstanding businessman award of the Nigerian-American Chamber in 1983 and was named a member of the business advisory council of the International Finance Corporation in 1989.[14]

Death and legacy

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6 Kensington Park Gardens

Olorogun Michael Ibru is generally considered the greatest Urhobo ever. He is credited with placing the Urhobo nation on the world map and uplifting the economic fortunes and cultural heritage of his people.[15][16] Ibru is also remembered as a historic figure that founded Nigeria's first indigenous multinational conglomerate and for helping shape the commercial and economic frontiers of a young Nigerian nation.[6][7][8][9]

He died at a medical facility in the United States on 6 September 2016.[17] Michael Ibru was posthumously honored with a heritage Blue plaque by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea at his Kensington Park Gardens home where he lived for 33 years.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Michael Ibru: The Urhobo Jesus of honour and prosperity". The Guardian (Nigeria). 13 December 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  2. ^ Amos (7 September 2016). "Olorogun Michael Christopher Ibru: An uncommon pioneer (1930-2016)". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  3. ^ https://dailytrust.com/olorogun-michael-ibru-1930-2016/
  4. ^ "A Tribute to an Uncommon Pioneer and Genius". Digital Library and Museum of Urhobo History and Culture. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  5. ^ sunnews (30 September 2016). "Michael Onajirevbe Ibru (1930 – 2016)". The Sun Nigeria. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b vanguard (23 September 2016). "The legacies of Olorogun Michael Ibru". Vanguard News. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b Nation, The (7 September 2016). "Buhari mourns Ibru". The Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b vanguard (6 September 2016). "Michael Ibru was a Pioneer of Pioneers - Ibori". Vanguard News. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b "A Tribute to an Uncommon Pioneer and Genius". Digital Library and Museum of Urhobo History and Culture. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  10. ^ FORREST, TOM. “THE RISE OF TWO CONGLOMERATES.” In The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise, 131–44. Edinburgh University Press, 1994. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv1vtz7vv.11 .
  11. ^ "$400,000,000 in 1981 → 2025 | Inflation Calculator". www.in2013dollars.com. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  12. ^ "Olorogun Michael Ibru at 80". Digital Library and Museum of Urhobo History and Culture. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  13. ^ "The Olurogun Michael Ibru legacy". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  14. ^ "Announcement of Michael Ibru to Join the IFC Business Council April 27, 1989". World Bank. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  15. ^ "Michael Ibru was Urhobo's greatest man –UPU". Vanguard News. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  16. ^ "'Michael Ibru was God's greatest gift to Urhobo nation'". Punch Newspapers. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  17. ^ Nsehe, Mfonobong. "Nigerian Titan Of Industry Michael Ibru Passes On At 86". Forbes. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  18. ^ Israel (13 April 2023). "Nubian Jak Honours Nigerian Businessman Olorogun Michael Ibru with Blue Plaque". The Standard News Nigeria. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  • Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise. University of Virginia Press (August 1994). ISBN 0-8139-1562-7