17/05/2021
MICHAEL IBRU & THE IBRU DYNASTY
By URHOBO WORLD UNITED UNION
Olorogun Michael Ibru (1930- 2016 ) Businessman, Philanthropist and founder of the Ibru Organisation. Born the eldest of seven, Ibru hailed from Agbarha-Otor, near Ughelli in Delta State. His mother was the daughter of the fabulously wealthy Ovedje Osadjere of Olomu. Ibru attended Igbobi College Yaba where he was Senior Prefect.
He worked briefly with UAC before setting up a frozen fish business in 1956. Today, the Ibru Organisation is a family-run business that is now a multi-billion dollar conglomerate and one of the largest in West Africa.
Back then, when naming the the Billionaires of Africa, the list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our Urhobo son - Michael IBRU. The way Dangote is looked up to now, Michael IBRU and his wealth was more known compared to Dangote of our present time. The IBRU family and the IBRU brothers were on the lips of every one . The IBRU family brought pride to the Urhobo Nation . The IBRU family owned a Multi million dollars empire . The IBRU organisation was one of the largest conglomerates in Nigeria .
No group of Nigerians has benefited more from Michael Ibru’s legacy than the Urhobo people. Urhobo men and women have profited at many levels since the rise of the Ibru brand in the second half of the 1950s.
First, Urhobo market women were among the first batch of Nigerians to embrace the “Ibru” frozen fish. Many of them rose from relative poverty to higher economic brackets because they participated in the new Ibru ventures from market stalls. There were more direct beneficiaries from Michael Ibru’s openness to his Urhobo people. These were the many Urhobo professionals who joined the Ibru organization. Many of them left the Ibru organization to pursue their own independent dreams constructed with the aid of ambitions conceived in the Ibru organization. A full list of Urhobo professionals who worked and prospered in the Ibru organization will fill many pages.
The Urhobo have a more particular reason for admiring Michael Ibru. Well up to the 1950s, the image of the Urhobo was not among the best in the Nigerian nation. With the accomplishments and competence of Michael Ibru especially, as well as the achievements of other giants of Nigerian commerce and economics. For that, the Urhobo have embraced Michael Ibru as an historic figure.
There is more in the love bonds between the Urhobo people and Michael Ibru. Michael Ibru has embraced Urhobo culture and Urhobo cultural organizations, especially Urhobo Progress Union, in a manner that pleases the Urhobo people. It is Michael Ibru who popularized the use of the title “Olorogun” in place of “Chief.”
List of IBRU company’s and subsidiaries include:-
Ibru Sea Foods Limited
Aden River Estate Limited
Aero Contractors Nigeria Limited
Ibache (Ibafon Chemicals) Limited
Ibafon Oil Limited
Ibron Nigeria Ltd
Ibru Merchandise 33 Limited
Ikeja Hotels Plc.
(Lagos Sheraton and Federal Palace Hotels), Societe Benninoise De Produits De Mer (SOBEPROM)
Zabadne and Company Limited
Osadjere Fishing Co. Limited
Marine Harvest Limited
Spibat Nig. Limited
Rutam Motors Limited
Nitrec Limited
Oceanic Bank Int’l. Plc
Aquamarine Finance and Securities Limited
Queens Petroleum Company of (Nig.) Limited, Guardian Newspaper Limited
Express Processing & Packaging Limited
Waskar Ltd.
Mitchell Farms
Nigerian Hardwood Co. (Nig.) Limited
F. Steiner & Company Limited
Blue Water Marine
Delta Freeze Limited
Lillershall (Nig.) Ltd
Superbru Ltd
W.F. Clarke (Nig.) Limited
Boardroom Service Limited
Minet Nigeria Limited (insurance brokers)
Atlantic Estates Limited
Societe Camerounaise De Product De Mer-SCPM
