The Richest Man in West Africa : The Unsung Legend of Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, OBE

Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu (1909 – 1966) the father of the Biafran Warlord Lt. Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (Colourful spouse of beauty queen, Bianca) was a colossus of the Nigerian and West African business world of colonial and post colonial times. With business interests in Transportation, Cement, Textile, Real Estate and Oil. He was the first recorded Nigerian Billionaire. His Rolls Royce was famously reported to have been used to convey the young Queen Elizabeth II at her first visit to Nigeria in 1956. Ojukwu was a shrewd businessman, a nationalist, a visionary and a philanthropist. Reputed for his spartan work ethics, meticulousness and integrity. He was the founder and pioneer President of the Nigerian Stock exchange.

Ojukwu’s life achievements and entrepreneurial examples appear to have been largely eclipsed by his son and the ripple effects of the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70) which birthed an unwritten campaign of selective amnesia and ethnic suspicion that makes a non- appreciation of our common history and acknowledgement of national heroes past a disturbing and deafening normalcy.

I happened upon this article by Ernie Onwumere a cultural activist and book enthusiast which is a review of a book by Ifeze, a missionary teacher, about the senior Ojukwu. – In the Quest for Perpetuity .

The book is a compilation of interviews; historical documents; pictures and reports about the man and legend . The Author intends his efforts to serve as ground work and a call for more comprehensive works and volumes aimed at celebrating and immortalizing the lessons of Sir Louis.