Urhobo
Historical
Society
A Tribute to an Uncommon Pioneer and
Genius:
Michael
Ibru at 80
By
Peter Ekeh
Chairman,
Urhobo
Historical
Society
Michael Ibru
at his prime
In
the
year
of
Michael Ibru�s birth in 1930, Nigeria�s future prospects were still
largely
undefined and uncertain. In the years in which Ibru grew up in the
1930s, the
image and confidence of his own Urhobo people were badly shaken as they
desperately
struggled to understand the new colonial world and to regain their
balance in
the Nigerian community of ethnic nationalities. What is historically
remarkable
about Michael Ibru is that, as he matured into a dominant businessman,
he
helped to shape the commercial and economic frontiers of the young
Nigerian
nation; moreover, he played a major role in steadying the fortunes of
the
Urhobo people in a nation in which the identities of men and women were
tied to
the moral perception of their ethnic groups by their fellow citizens.
There
will
be
future
debates about the sources of Michael Ibru�s exceptional
personality.
The Urhobo are quick to relate such gigantic achievements as Michael
Ibru has been
able to assemble to one�s sub-ethnic origins. Culturally, the Agbarha
sub-culture of Urhoboland, to which the Ibrus owe their paternity, has
a huge
reputation for innovative adventures. It is such venturesome tendencies
in
pre-historic times that led fractions of the Agbarha people to the
founding of
Agbarha-Ame on the banks of Warri River and the daring establishment of
Idjerhe
and Oghara across the Ethiope River. Clearly, certain elements of
Michael
Ibru�s daring ventures have the markings of his native Agbarha. But
that cannot
explain it all. The truth of the matter is that the genius of men like
Ibru is
rare and unique. Some might even be tempted to label it as a gift from
God.
A
boyhood
story
about
Michael Ibru might provide a window to understanding his
genius. It
is a story that his immediate younger brother, Felix Ibru, told of
their youth.
Their mother was the last child of Chief Osadjere of Olomu, a trader of
enormous influence in eastern Urhobo affairs in early colonial times.
He was
succeeded by his eldest son, Ovedje Osadjere, who became a dominant
political
force in eastern Urhobo in the late 1930s when Michael and Felix were
little
boys. Ovedje travelled in a carriage that was drawn by cyclists �
obviously an
uncommon indication of power and wealth at a time and in a region in
which
there were no motorable roads. One afternoon, the great Chief Ovedje
was
passing by at Oteri in Ughelli when Michael and Felix accompanied their
mother
to pay homage to her famous eldest sibling. On seeing her, Ovedje
ordered the
carriage to stop and he had a conversation with his father�s youngest
child, a
significant relationship in Urhobo culture. As he prepared to depart,
he asked
whether there was anything his young nephews needed from him. Michael
rushed
forth, requesting that he wanted to pluck cocoa pods from his farm.
Ovedje was
amused and told Michael to go ahead and do so. Michael�s mother was not
amused.
What was he going to do with cocoa pods? Young Michael wanted to
experiment
with the liquid from the pods to see if he could brew some drink from
them!
Such
curiosity
pushed
Michael
Ibru to uncommon heights. He settled at an early age in
Lagos,
colonial Nigeria�s headquarters, to which his parents migrated. Here,
he was
able to enter Igbobi College, Yaba, a top secondary school in colonial
times.
Michael Ibru blossomed at Igbobi College. In an age in which character
earned
enormous credit in a young person�s life, Michael Ibru�s leadership
qualities
soon became apparent. He completed his secondary school education in
1951 in
the envied position of Senior Prefect. Significantly, he was followed
to Igbobi
College by three of his younger brothers: Felix (also Senior Prefect),
Bernard,
and Alex. A fourth younger brother, Goodie, was educated at Ibadan
Grammar
School.
Michael
Ibru
briefly
worked
(1951-56) as an employee of United Africa Company, a
trading consortium
that once bore the lofty name of Royal Niger Company. This short period
of work
experience, including a stint in Japan, was apparently an intense
internship
for young Michael Ibru. He plunged into the world of commerce in his
mid-twenties, using personnel resources from his close-knit family but
initially
relying on African Continental Bank for capital. Where other older
Nigerian commercial
capitalists were faithful to ready-made products, principally importing
industrial goods from the United Kingdom, Ibru was far more daring in
prospecting for new products to sell. His greatest commercial
innovation was
the production and marketing of frozen fish. Ibru ventured where no
other
Nigerian had dared. In the 1950s, frozen fish (once unsuccessfully
pushed by the
foreign-owned West African Fisheries and Cold Stores) had a poor
reputation in
Nigeria. When Ibru introduced frozen fish in 1957, its detractors --
including
meat sellers -- labeled it "mortuary" fish. He waged a vigorous
campaign
that successfully persuaded a whole nation that frozen fish was good,
establishing distribution depots throughout Nigeria. Felix Ibru
attributes some
of Michael's early success to assistance from his family. Felix himself
served
as part-time clerk for Laibru, a trading company that Michael Ibru
formed with
an Englishman Jimmy Large. Michael's mother in her early life was a
long-distance trader in the creeks of the Niger Delta where familiarity
with
fish was a necessity. Her prowess in the pricing of the new "Ibru"
frozen fish was invaluable. Felix Ibru tells us that unsung in this
initial
push to huge success by the eldest of the Ibru siblings was the role
that their
austere father, Peter Ibru, played in ensuring that Michael's monies
were
safeguarded in a vault over which this patriarch kept watch.