In July I did a piece on this space where I averted our minds to the incidents that led to the demise of Major General Aguiyi Ironsi and colonel Adekunle Fajuyi who died same day sequel to the July, 1966 coup. It was the 50th anniversary of their demise and the lessons flowing from their sticking together even in death for the ultimate unity of this country. It was a journey to history as it concerned military intervention in politics. It was for us to know where the journey began and how far we had come in the journey of military intervention in governance. Some people paid the supreme price for the continued existence of the nation. Ironsi and Fajuyi are among the lot.
Today the aim is to remember another man who passed away 50 years ago, but made indelible marks as an entrepreneur, and gave the Igbo nation a son who stood for his people in times of distress, whose vision for a restructured nation was spurned at the time, but has now become the new sing-song in a nation that seem to be sliding down the slope of fragmentation. The other day former President Olusegun Obasanjo, admitted that the nation has never been more fragmented than now.
Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu KBE, was born in 1909 and died 1966. He was a native of Obiuno Umudim village, in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra state. He was the first and founding President of The Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as the President of African Continental Bank. He is also said to be either Chairman and/or on the board of directors of some of Nigeria’s most profitable companies including Guinness Nig. Ltd, Nigerian Cement Factory, Nigerian Coal Corporation, Nigerian National Shipping Lines, Costain West Africa Ltd, John Holt, Nigerian Marketing Board Shell Oil Nigeria Limited, and so on. He won a parliamentary seat during the nation’s first republic.
He began his working career in John Holt as a tyre sales clerk. He incorporated a textile company in Onitsha to supplement his income. Those were the early signs of his entrepreneurial spirit. It became full blown when he left John Holt. He left the company because he had seen the strain lack of adequate transport was putting on textile traders from eastern Nigeria. He then created a transport company to improve the trading environment. As a transporter he was a tireless worker and meticulous to detail; he was usually the first to inspect his transport vehicles for oil and leakages. Apart from his work ethic, his success was also oiled by the economic boom after World War 11, working with the West African Railway Company and the newly inaugurated produce boards, he provided his fleet for commodity transportation and for other traders use. As a transporter he had his own transport company (Ojukwu Transport Limited)which was the first major transport company to move the easterners to Lagos from the Asaba end of the Niger river after they might have crossed over from Onitsha on a boat.
During the 50s, Sir Louis diversified his interest, bought some industries, invested heavily in the real estate sector and became a director in numerous major corporations including the state-owned Nigerian National Shipping Line. He was a member of the board of Nigerian Coal Corporation, Shell oil, D’Archy, and African Continental Bank.
During the period of pre-independence and in the First Republic, Ojukwu was an active member and donor to the political party, NCNC. He was a one time member of the House of Representative. In 1958, he was chairman of the Eastern Region Development Corporation and the Eastern Regional Marketing Board.
Sir Louis was an exceptional entrepreneur who seem to have laid the foundation followed by his people in Nnewi, Anambra state. That town has the largest concentration of Industries in the South east, followed by a long list of successful entrepreneurs. The likes of late Chief Agustine Ilodibe (Ekene Dili Chukwu ), Chief Chidi Anyaegbu (Chisco), Chief Inocent Chukwuma (Innoson Motors) Chief Ifeanyi Uba and countless others have threaded Sir Lous’s path and made their mark as business men.
Sir Lous was among the leading lights in the area of business and, indeed, showed his brothers from the eastern parts that they can also hone their business skills. I salute the memory of a man whose son Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegbwu Ojukwu, served his people in another sphere. Sir Louis died in 1966, a year before the Nigerian civil war. This is not about the civil war or the former Biafran leader. This is about sir louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, who lived for 57 years and made inedible marks as a businessman.
But it detracts from his towering legacy that his grand children are bickering over his wealth, rather than build on it. Late Biafran leader Dim Odumewgwu Ojukwu had a running battle with his half brothers on the matter. Since the demise of Ikemba, his immediate family and wife have been embroiled in court over Ikemba’s will, a document that may have derived largely from Sir Louis’s wealth since Ikemba was a career soldier and not known to be a man of means. The family should not dissipate energy bickering. They should build on his legacy.
