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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Chief Alex Ubaka Achebe is a London-based management accountant, property investor and serial entrepreneur with renown in business, philanthropy, and community development in the United Kingdom and across Africa. Chief Achebe is a nephew to literary icon, Prof Chinua Achebe of blessed memory. He’s the Chairman of Marlex Group Limited, which manages over 55 properties in London, including prime locations like Canary Wharf and Tower Bridge.
He’s passionate about giving back, especially to vulnerable communities in Nigeria and Africa. He does it through the Achebe Hope Foundation, which focuses on entrepreneurship, empowerment, and social impact. This foundation is part of a larger network of initiatives under Marlex Group, including House of Zalex, AADA, and an online educational campus.
In this interview, he talks about Chinua Achebe, his friend Chief Success Akagburuonye and the activities of the foundation.
Paint a picture of the impact of the foundation.
The Achebe Hope Foundation (AHF) is a charitable organization dedicated to community development, education, and empowerment. It was founded with a heart for the people of Ogidi, my hometown, in Anambra State, Nigeria and Africa as a whole. As the founder, I’m committed to creating opportunities that uplift the underserved members of the rural communities, children, and women. The initiative is focused on sustainable community development projects, education, child welfare, maternity support, and skill-based empowerment. The ultimate goal is to strengthen communities and enable long-term growth. The foundation is designed to make a real, measurable impact, starting from Ogidi, and gradually expanding to South Eastern Nigeria, Edo State (to honour my wife’s community), across the country, and eventually throughout Africa. The foundation prioritizes rural communities where the need is greatest, to ensure that every programme touches lives and empowers individuals to thrive beyond their immediate environments. It will continue with the vision of my late uncle, Professor Chinua Achebe, a man whose intellect, vision, and love for learning inspired generations.
While his legacy enriched the world through literature and ideas, his hometown did not benefit directly from his immense impact. Achebe Hope Foundation now ensures that knowledge, opportunity, and empowerment reach Ogidi and beyond, turning intellectual inspiration into tangible community transformation.
My uncle, Professor Achebe, inspired the world with his ideas and stories, but his hometown never fully felt the impact of his brilliance. The Achebe Hope Foundation is changing that by bringing knowledge, opportunity, and empowerment straight to Ogidi, across Nigeria, and throughout Africa, turning inspiration into real, life-changing action.
Our foundation believes that strong communities create strong futures. Every programme, intervention, and initiative is designed to strengthen communities and unlock potential. From taking on sustainable community development projects to sponsoring children in primary and secondary school, supporting tertiary education, and providing maternity and child healthcare, the foundation ensures that young people are equipped to succeed health-wise, academically and professionally.
But there have been issues about who truly founded the Achebe foundation. There was criticism from some of the family members. Please address this?
Yes, there has been public commentary regarding the establishment of the Achebe Hope Foundation and its connection to the wider Achebe family heritage. We believe it is important to address this matter with clarity, dignity, and respect for both family and public understanding. I’m a member of the Achebe family lineage from Ogidi, Anambra State, Nigeria. Like many extended Igbo families, the Achebe name represents generations of ancestry, cultural identity, and community history that long predate modern public recognition.
Within that lineage, Professor Chinua Achebe emerged as one of the most distinguished sons of the Achebe family, whose literary contributions brought global attention to African history, identity, and storytelling. As a member of the same wider Achebe family heritage, I have always spoken about Professor Chinua Achebe with respect, pride, and admiration. However, it is important to clarify the nature of the Achebe Hope Foundation. It was created by me and my wife, Lolo (Mrs) Marie Itoya Ifeoma Achebe to support humanitarian causes across Africa. The foundation honours the values associated with the Achebe family heritage, values of education, dignity, and service that have been reflected by many members of the Achebe lineage across generations. The foundation is an independent humanitarian initiative and is not affiliated with the late Professor Chinua Achebe estate
What practical assistance has the foundation given to the needy?
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The work of the foundation is focused on practical impact, including supporting women and single mothers rebuilding their lives, providing educational and welfare support for orphanages. It assists schools and educational initiatives in underserved communities, creating pathways to opportunity rather than dependency. The guiding principle of the foundation is that legacy should not live only in books; it must live in action. My work in the United Kingdom and beyond has been grounded in enterprise, community leadership, and philanthropy. As Chairman of Marlex Group Limited, I lead a successful property enterprise managing more than 55 properties across London, while also supporting initiatives that promote empowerment and development across Africa.
Together with my wife, we remain committed to expanding the humanitarian work of the Achebe Hope Foundation for the benefit of vulnerable communities. We believe that heritage is honoured not through dispute, but through service. For this reason, we will remain focused on its mission of supporting education, dignity, and opportunity for those most in need. I will continue to uphold the values associated with the Achebe family name through integrity, leadership, and humanitarian work, both in the United Kingdom and across Africa.
So what’s your advice for those against your foundation?
We respectfully encourage all parties and observers to allow the work of the foundation to speak for itself through the lives it aims to improve.
How do you see governance in practical terms in the UK where you reside and Nigeria your fatherland?
They are complete opposites in the conduct of democracy. The UK is a developed economic giant where democracy is practiced seamlessly, no delays, no rigging, no INEC, no electoral supervision, no missing ballot boxes, no police or army interference. Nigeria is the exact opposite. I cry for Nigeria, with the spate of election irregularities, corruption, greed, police involvement, disappearing election boxes and materials, inconclusive election results, compromised election tribunal judges, declaration of fake election results, etc. I do not and have not reposed any faith or trust on the Nigerian election process. Democracy should be fair and transparent.
You hold a traditional title and show great interest in Igbo issues. What’s your opinion about Igbo presidency in 2027?
My title is Ichele Ogidi, a full custodian of Igbo traditional culture and values. Igbo Presidency is very possible if all hands are on deck, ranging from Igbo leaders to the Igbo polity coming together to choose a consensus candidate irrespective of political leaning. Only when this is done, can we have an Igbo President. In the not too distant past, Igbo had a credible consensus candidate in Dr Alex Ekwueme, but some Igbo sycophants and ne’er do wells betrayed the cause, collected bribes in Ghana Must Go bags, and ended up selling out on Dr Ekwueme’s credible candidacy. Democracy died. We are about to resurrect the Igbo Presidency, and this time is the best chance we have. If only we can liberate our minds as Igbo to do what is right, and stick behind the most credible Igbo we have today.
You graced the 60th birthday celebration of Chief Success Akagburuonye. Tell us the relationship you share with him?
Chief Barrister Success Akagburuonye is a very good friend of over four years. He will normally pay and stay in one of my exclusive high-end apartments in London whenever he visits London. As a very successful and hardworking engineer, lawyer and businessman, I am encouraged by his philanthropy and sense of giving. He is a well-grounded Christian, a family man and a very kind-hearted man. He simply invited me to his 60th birthday and I flew into Nigeria to honour him as an outstanding statesman.
There have been calls on him to contest for the governorship of Imo State. Please share your thoughts on this?
Certainly, he will be a good choice. As a God fearing man, who has touched so many hearts in his town, his local government, and Imo State, I believe that if his people ask him to serve them as their next governor, it will be a breath of fresh air. I am sure he will extend the same zeal, humility, focus, servitude and grace to all Imolites. Here is a man who is self-made, does not encroach, does not harm, does not discriminate, but is all encompassing, all engaging and willing to always help the poor. Imo people will be better with him as their governor. I pray for God’s will on him, and for every success in all his endeavours.
