Goodie ibru biography

Nigerian businessman

Goodie Minabo Ibru (born 11 May 1942) is a Nigerian businessman, hotelier and former president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Early life and education

Goodie Ibru was born on 11 May 1942 to Peter Ibru and chief Janet Ibru. He is the brother of Michael Ibru founder of the Ibru Organization, a major Conglomerate. Goodie obtained his primary school leaving certificate from Yaba Methodist school, Yaba and later went to Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan.

He proceeded to the Holborn College of Law, University of London and graduated LLB (London) in 1965. He was called to the inner temple of the English Bar in 1966 and enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria as Solicitor and Advocate in 1968, after which he founded the law firm G.M Ibru & Co where he was principal partner.

Career

Ibru founded Ikeja Hotel Plc in 1975. He opened his flagship property the Sheraton Lagos Hotel and towers in 1985. In 1992, the company acquired the tourist company of Nigeria Plc, the holding company of the Federal Palace Hotel and casino. Subsequently, his Ikeja Hotel Plc purchased majority shares in Capital Hotel Plc and became the chairman and owner of the Abuja Sheraton hotel

Ibru has sat on the Board of several companies, including Guardian Press Limited, Dunlop Nigeria Plc, Crusader General Insurance Plc, Minet Nigeria Limited and Niger-Delta Exploration and Production Plc.

Awards and memberships

Goodie Ibru served as President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nigeria-Russia Business Council, and the NEPAD business Group. He was honorary consul of the Consulate of Lithuania to Nigeria He also represented Nigeria as the co-chair for the UNWTO Committee on International Code of Ethics on Tourism.

He is a member of the Lagos Rotary Club, Metropolitan Club and Ikoyi Club. He is Fellow of the Nigerian Instit

Goodie Minabo Ibru has seen the goodness of God.Not once, not twice, not thrice but eighty times, if we are to distribute God’s goodness in a ratio of one per year for the man who clocked 80 on May 11, 2022. Born 1942 in Kano, Goodie Ibru is the sole survivor of the five amazing Ibru brothers glued together by brotherly love and a rare communal fraternity, each brother being the other brother’s keeper under the patriarchal, inspirational leadership of their eldest brother, the late Olorogun Michael Christopher Onajirevbe Ibru, the legendary business titan who introduced Nigerians to eating frozen fish and made a fortune which he later diversified to build a business empire.

Between Goodie Ibru and his eldest brother Olorogun Michael Ibru are two human-interest stories that must be told before anything else.In journalism, we define “human interest” to mean stories that are dear to the heart, stories that are touching, that are emotional.As he basked in his fresh octogenarian glory, Goodie Ibru, the last man standing remembers how as a three- or four-year-old, he got lost in the big city of Lagos and couldn’t find his way home. Tears in his eyes, he was swamped amidst the din and bustle of Lagos, a little boy in the middle of nowhere, going nowhere.He was wandering and wondering.In his confused mind, he was asking himself: where is home?Where is my mummy?Where is my daddy?Where are my siblings?

Meanwhile his parents and his brother Michael had organised a search party.They cast their fishing net wider in search of their little boy whose baptismal name was Goodluck, a name that was later shortened at school by friends who renamed him Goodie.

“God has been very kind to me,” says Goodie Ibru as he recaptures the story of his lost childhood alter ego called Goodluck.“My baptismal name is Goodluck.And I have been lucky all my life.When I was a child of about three or four years old, I was lost.My parents were urgently looking for

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Nigerian business dynasty

The Ibru family is a Nigerian business dynasty from Agbara-Otor, Delta State that rose to prominence with Michael Ibru, who founded the Ibru Organization.

The family patriarch was Chief Peter Epete Ibru, a missionary who worked for much of his life in Yorubaland. He rose to the position of nursing superintendent at Igbobi Orthopedic Hospital, Lagos. His wife, Janet Omotogor Ibru, was the matriarch of the Ibru dynasty. She was a trader and daughter of Chief Adjefia Osadjere of Olomu, a wealthy 19th century merchant who built the first story building in Urhoboland. His eldest son, Ovedje Osadjere, was a warrant chief (1918-1923) in colonial-era Nigeria and reigned as Ohworode (King) of Olomu (1924-1949).

The family's fortune is derived from the Ibru Organization, one of the largest conglomerates in Africa. The Ibru family is one of Africa's foremost business dynasties and has also produced prominent figures in politics. Chief Goodie Ibru is the current head of the clan.

Notable family members

References