Ibru Organization

Formation	1956
Type	Multinational Conglomerate
Region served	Africa
Founder	Michael Ibru

The Ibru Organisation, established in 1956, is one of the largest conglomerates in Africa.^[1] By 1990 it had between 9,000 and 11,000 employees.^[2] By 2009 the Ibru Organisation was a multi-billion dollar conglomerate with interests that included Shipping, Port management, Hospitality, Real estate, Agriculture, Aviation, Banking, Media ,Oil and gas, amongst others^[3]

The Ibru Family are Urhobo people from Agbara-Otor near Ughelli in Delta State. The family patriarch was Chief Peter Epete Ibru. His wife, Janet Omotogor Ibru was the matriarch of the Ibru dynasty. She was closely involved in the organization.^[4] The founder of the firm was their son Michael Ibru. Michael gained a secondary education at Igbobi College, then worked for the United Africa Company from 1951 until 1956. That year, aged 24, he partnered with Jimmy Large, an Englishman, to form the Laibru general trading company, and also bought a share of Ace Jimonma, a construction firm.^[2]

Starting in 1957, Ibru was a pioneer in distributing frozen fish in Nigeria. Although freshwater fishing was a major agricultural activity in Nigeria at the time, Ibru saw that this would change with economic development, opening a market for frozen fish.^[5] At first he ran into technical problems with supply and also met consumer resistance. Two joint ventures both failed. He then formed Ibru Sea Foods as the sole owner, importing the frozen fish and at first trading from the back of a truck. He expanded quickly, chartering his first fishing boat in 1963, and in 1965 founding a fishing company with three freezer trawlers as a joint venture with a Japanese firm. Despite setbacks, the fishing fleet had grown to as many as 25 trawlers in the 1970s, and Ibru had 200 transport vehicles. Ibru had also expanded into vehicle distribution and fruit growing.^[6]

The organization continued to grow through acquisitions and joint ventures in diverse businesses including brewing, construction and petroleum distribution, with varying degrees of success. The company also acquired extensive holdings of real estate for agriculture and industrial activity. The recession of the early 1980s caused by falling oil prices, combined with import restrictions, forced contraction and a restructuring at the end of the 1980s. By this time, Michael's eldest son Olorogun Oskar Ibru had joined the boards of companies in the organization.^[7]

Rutam Motors was established in 1969, the firm took over management of Ibru's 200 fleet vehicle that were acquired from expatriate firms and were used to service the organizations various operations. The new firm acquired vehicle franchises and focused on after sales maintenance of vehicles from brands such as Mazda, British Leyland Peugeot and Jeep. The company also expanded into commercial tractor sales and maintenance.^[7]

The Ibru Dynasty is close with all members involved in the business. Cecilia Ibru led Oceanic Bank but she was arrested for a multi-billion dollar corporate fraud in 2010. She was sentenced and given a fine of $1.2B (£786m) in cash and assets^[8] Cecilia Ibru had started her career at this corporation.^[9]

Talking at Michael Ibru's 80th birthday celebration in January 2011, his eldest son Oskar said "The only thing I can say about my family is that we grew up as a team. We were like a bunch of broom sticks".^[10] Michael Ibru helped his brothers with their education, gave them stakes in the Ibru organization and helped them to branch out on their own. Alex Ibru, chairman of Rutam Motors, met with newspapermen Stanley Mecebuh of the Daily Times of Nigeria, Patrick Dele-Cole also formerly of that paper and Olusegun Osoba, formerly of the Nigerian Herald. With 55% funding from the Ibru family, they launched The Guardian in 1983, with Alex Ibru as chairman.^[11] Alex was minister of Internal Affairs from 1993 to 1995.^[4] Goodie Ibru, who had qualified as a commercial lawyer, became president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and chairman of Ikeja Hotels Plc (owners of the federal palace hotel & Sheraton hotels)^[3] Felix Ibru studied architecture in Israel, and after teaching at Yaba College of Technology established an architectural firm, Entering politics, in 1992 Felix became the first executive governor of Delta State.^[12]

In 2014, the Ibru Organization was listed by Forbes as one of the ten leading family businesses in Africa. Michael Ibru’s first son, Oskar Ibru, took the helm of the multinational organization in the late 1980s and has been responsible for steering the wheel since then.^[13]

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