Ibru

Olorogun Michael Christopher Onajirhevbe Ibru, the patriarch of the Ibru family and Otota of Agbarha-Otor kingdom is dead.

In a statement on Tuesday, the family of the business mogul said he passed on peacefully at a medical facility in the United States in the early hours of today, Tuesday, September 6, 2016 after a protracted illness.

Aged 86, Ibru was the Otota of Agbarha-Otor Kingdom and an Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR). He was also the Chairman, Michael and Cecilia Foundation (MCF).

He was also a member of the Business Advisory Council of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and served as Council member of the following bodies: Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Nigeria-United States Business Council.

He attended the famous Igbobi College, Lagos between 1948 and 1951 and distinguished himself in academics and in extracurricular activities such that in his last year in school, he was appointed the senior prefect, a position usually reserved for the best students with leadership traits.

He also worked at United African Company (now UACN), as a manager- in training between 1951 and 1956.

He resigned from the company and at the age of 24, formed Laibru, in partnership with an expatriate, Jimmy Large, whom they both worked at UAC.

He founded the Osadjere Fishing Company in partnership with a Japanese Conglomerate, one of the largest fishing companies in the world IN 1965.

In 1974, he extended his business adventure with the acquisition of Nigerian Hardwoods, a logging, saw-milling, and wood processing company Ubiaroku, at a low price from the Lathem Group, UK.

The deceased  is touted among his people as  a major pillar in the economic empowerment of the Urhobo nation.

His death is coming months after the burial of his younger brother and former Governor of Delta State, Felix Ibru.