Ingram Osigwe
If you are 13 years old and, in your mind’s eye, you see yourself among vivacious crowd of age mates resplendent in their forget-me-not secondary school uniforms, chattering away heartily in a classroom, and just when that dream is about to berth on the shores of reality, your own biological father rudely aborts it, what would you do? Crestfallen and disappointed, would you turn your back on life and bemoan your fate forever?
Some people with fickle spirit would. But the likes of Dr. Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto, who are made of sterner stuff and blessed with a can-do spirit that does not yield to despair would soldier on with life, turn the disappointment into a blessing in disguise and later in life have an inspiring story to tell.
And that was the exactness of what the young Ibeto did when his dream for secondary education crashed on January 22, 1966.
On that day, the lad was in high spirits. He looked forward to a new and exhilarating life as a fresh student of Crusader Secondary School, Isingwu Amachala, Umuahia.
Gaily dressed in his school uniform and armed with his school box, Ibeto was set to depart for Umuahia to begin life as secondary school student and then, suddenly, his father made a shattering proclamation that would leave hot tears cascading down the young man’s cheeks, crestfallen, disappointed and embittered: He was to make a detour to trading rather than education.
There and then, Ibeto was parceled, willy-nilly, to Onitsha to begin apprenticeship in auto spare parts as a trader under the tutelage of one Akamelu.
And so began his journey through life’s pumpy road, which would dramatically signpost his subsequent rise to the top. It would be safe to say that Ibeato’s eventual road to prominence was watered by grit and determination to succeed and excel after a devastating and unsettling dream crash.
Fifty-four years down the lane, Ibeto has not only shrugged off that initial life hiccup but he has also left bold imprints in the sands of time.
His zero-to-hero story typifies the rise of the proverbial Phoenix. From grand zero, Ibeto has built a multi-billion dollar business conglomerate, the Ibeto Group, spanning real estate, petrochemical, cement, auto parts, hospitality, oil and commodity trading, among others.
Naturally blessed with business acumen and fecundity of ideas, Ibeto’s apprenticeship in auto spare parts was abbreviated by the civil war. He was himself a combatant in the war, having joined the Biafran Army at the outbreak of hostilities.
Surviving the war by the whiskers, he launched himself back into the world of trading at the end of hostilities. Thus, in 1970, Ibeto was already a young businessman. Ingenious and enterprising, Ibeto had started his business career in 1970, stepping into what has now become a massive business dream, with the establishment of Ibeto Brothers Trading Company as its sole proprietor.
However, his major business break came during the administration of President Shehu Shagari, profiting massively from a policy change during that era. There was a policy that goods could be imported without import licence but as Nigerian’s external reserves began to dry up, the Shagari government had to introduce import licence.
The uncertainty forced many importers to suspend importation in order to monitor the new policy.
But braving the uncertain situation, Ibeto moved quickly to secure the N3 million import licence at a time a dollar sold for 68 kobo. With the licence, he imported 65 containers of vital motor parts. By the time other importers could wake up to get the license, the government had tightened the screws and made it almost impossible for anyone to obtain the license. Almost at the same time, the Shagari government was toppled, which made matters worse, as it resulted in borders being closed.
The Nnewi-born business mogul then virtually became a monopolist for motor spare parts. He confessed that the moment was a turning point for his life and business. He was selling at almost 500 per cent mark up and people were buying!
His words: “That was the turning point for me. Come and see the line-up of people who wanted the spare parts. I was packing money with cartons. There was no armed robbery then, no kidnapping. It was a seller’s market. And the mark up was almost 500 per cent but people were buying! In fact, within two days of the arrival of the containers, I made four million pounds.”
Diversification was flowery and seamless for Ibeto, swiftly moving from an importer of auto spare parts to automotive lead-acid batteries and plastic accessories merchant. Then, in 1988, he delved into manufacturing when he completed his factory in Nnewi and stopped direct importation of lead-acid automotive battery and plastic motor accessories. By 1995, the company had become one of the largest auto spare parts manufacturing outfits in Nigeria.
A year later, Ibeto would further expand his business operations by diversifying into other sectors, thus establishing Ibeto Petrochemicals Industries Limited. His petrochemicals industry owns one of the largest liquid facilities for petroleum products in Nigeria.
Subsidiaries under the Ibeto Group are legion and they include Union Autoparts Manufacturing Co. Ltd., which was incorporated on June 2, 1987. The company is a major player in automotive lead-acid battery manufacturing in Nigeria. The interesting thing is that the company produces locally, from its lead and aluminum smelting plant, all the lead and aluminum required for its operations.
It has the capacity to produce, annually, 300,000 units of lead/acid batteries, 120,000 units of sealed maintenance-free batteries, 5,500 tonnes of lead, 500 tonnes of accessories and 1,500 tonnes of friction parts.
There is also the Ibeto Petrochemical Industries Ltd. It was established in October 1996 with a blending plant in Nnewi, Anambra State. The company blends oil lubricants and produces various types of petroleum products for local and international markets. The petrochemical company also owns one of the largest liquid storage facilities for petroleum products in Nigeria, with a capacity of over 60,000 metric tonnes located at Apapa Wharf and Ibru Jetty Complex, Lagos.
Ibeto Cement Company Ltd produces bagged cements at its bagging terminal at Bundu Ama, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Ibeto Cement commenced operation in 1997 with the importation of bagged cement from Portland before establishing Ibeto Cement in 2001.
In 2018, Ibeto Cement announced a reverse merger with Century Petroleum Corporation, a United States (U.S.) publicly-traded petroleum exploration and production company. This was aimed at taking the global markets by storm and bypass the complex process of listing. The company was to acquire a 70 per cent controlling stake of Century Petroleum and thus Cletus Ibeto was subsequently made the chairman of the board of directors.
Ibeto’s foray into cement business saw him establishing Eastern Bulkcem Company Ltd. The company is also engaged in the importation of bulk cement and bagging of same in its factory premises in Rumuolumeni waterfront, Rivers State.
Eastern Bulkcem equally owns 60 per cent of Nigeria Cement Company Plc (NIGERCEM), Nkalagu, Ebonyi State. NIGERCEM was very important for Ibeto; if he was to remain an importer of cement, he needed to own a cement manufacturing plant as it was the requirement. Owning NIGERCEM did not come easy as the then Ebonyi State governor, Martin Elechi, was against the acquisition. Ibeto fought him head-on like a wounded lion, until he had NIGERCEM secured. NIGERCEM gave him the initial stability he needed to continue in the cement business.
King’s Palace Hotels Limited was established in March 1985 and has become synonymous with hospitality. Kings’ Palace is located in the heart of Nnewi and has played a significant role in the economic and tourism development of Anambra State.
Ibeto Energy Development Limited is Ibeto’s response to the energy needs of the country. The company was established in April 2008 in line with federal government’s aspiration to exploit the available natural gas in the Niger Delta Region for economic development.
Palmex Agencies Limited was incorporated in September 1998 and engaged in general merchandising. The company imports and distributes commodity items like rice, sugar and fertilizer.
Ibeto Industries Limited is the flagship. It was incorporated in 1984 to serve the Nigerian public in their quest for colour print and photographic processing. Ibeto Industries has modern printing machines that meet the needs of customers and they have branches across Nigeria.
Odoh Holdings Limited made a debut in March 1985. It is the real estate arm of the Ibeto Group. The company owns properties in prime areas of Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Onitsha and Nnewi.
Ibeto Hotel, Abuja, is a 100-room four-star property that was inaugurated early in 2013 and the company has interest in replicating Ibeto Hotel in other major cities in Nigeria.
Ibeto believes in ethics in business, even if its application or observances will cost him money and business opportunities. A veteran journalist, Mike Awoyinfa, tells an enchanting story of how Ibeto elected to lose millions of dollars during the Gulf War than compromise on business ethics: “Ibeto said that during the Gulf War II, his company received a lot of pressure from Saddam Hussien’s officials who badly wanted Union Recycling Plant to export the lead products refined by his company at very lucrative terms, but the company turned down the tempting offer because Ibeto believed that such leads would go into production of dangerous weapons of war by Saddam.” This was far more ethical than a business decision, but Ibeto argued to his astonished management that even though the group desperately needed the fund to inject into the the construction of the cement terminals at Bundu Ama Creek.
Born on November 6, 1952, in his home town, Obiofia Umuenem, Otolo Nnewi, in Anambra State, Ibeto is humble, unassuming and focused. Through his philanthropic gestures, Ibeto has lifted thousands of people out of poverty. He has also helped other top business persons from Nnewi.
A large-hearted and ever kindly disposed community developer and human capacity builder, Cletus Ibeto has to his credit the following notable philanthropic milestones, among several others:
The award of over 200 secondary and university scholarships to deserving, indigent Nigerian youths.
Instituted and maintains in perpetuity a prize award foundation for the best graduating student in pediatrics at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, College of Medicine, Nnewi, Anambra State.
Instituted and maintains in perpetuity a prize award foundation for the best graduating student in the department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.
Extensive Community Support Services in: Rural Electrification projects, with donation and installation of transformers, borehole water projects to communities and institutions of learning.
Constructed and maintains a 20km road and a multipurpose hall for Nnewi community.
Constructed the biggest but yet-to-be-commissioned N65m worth Medical Diagnostic Center at the University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu Campus (renowned to be the largest in the West African sub-region).
Constructed and donated departmental buildings to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi.
On the construction of the most modern and contemporary Catholic Youth Village located in Amansea (near Awka) in Anambra State, Dr. Ibeto was acknowledged as the single largest donor and developed 250 self-contained rooms of hostel accommodation within the village designed to mitigate the accommodation challenges of students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
Constructed and donated a world class church building, chancery and conference centre to St. Cletus Catholic Church, Otolo Nnewi, Anambra State.
Sponsors annual comprehensive medical/surgical outreaches to communities that has restored health to thousands of sick and helpless Nigerians and prevented death for many.
Extensive development programme for host communities to his numerous businesses.
Though denied access to formal education by his father at 13, that burning desire to see the four walls of a classroom remained aflame. Ibeto later sat for his WASSCE at the age of 48 and got a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, at the age of 54. He was subsequently honoured with a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the same university.
Over the years, he has had numerous trainings at seminars and conferences within the country, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Japan.
Ibeto had earlier attended St. James Primary school, Owerrinta, in present-day Imo State.
Come March 2020, another enchanting feather will be added to Dr. Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto’s crowded crown and another honour done him yet as the Ebonyi State University confers on him Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration.
Before the EBSU honour, Ibeto’s gallery of honours brimmed with awards and recognitions, including:
Gold Service Award from the Rotary Club of Enugu, Rotary International District 9140.
Three-Ruby Paul Harris Fellow from the Rotary Foundation International.
Certificate of Merit from the Government of Anambra State of Nigeria.
Award of Excellence by the Pilgrims Africa Health Foundation.
National Honour, Officer of Order of the Niger, OON.
Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Honoris Causa, University of Nigeria.
National Honour, Commander of the Order of the Niger, CON.
And friends and business associates who have followed Ibeto’s life trajectory testify that the honorary award is a fitting, proper, deserving and eloquent recognition and testimony of his years of entrepreneurship, hard work, tenacity of purpose and service to humanity.