Date of entry in original source: December 14, 2019
Quality of data: primary evidence
Name
Nigerian businessman from Ojukwus family of Nwakanwa quarters obiuno umudim Nnewi
Note
Sir Louis Philip Odumegwu Ojukwu, KBE
A lot of people may not know Sir Louis Philip Odumegwu Ojukwu besides the fact that he is the father of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Former Military Governor of the Defunct Eastern Region, and Leader of the Unsuccessful Biafra Republic.
But as a matter of fact, he is one of the greatest and richest entrepreneurs ever produced in Africa.
Louis Ojukwu was born in Nnewi, present day Anambra State of Nigeria in 1909 and was the second and only male child of four children.
He started his educational pursuit at Government Primary School, Asaba. In 1922, he proceeded to the only secondary school in the Eastern Region (that is present day, South-South and South East Geo-Political Zones) at the time, Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar and graduated in 1928.
After a brief stint at the Agriculture Department, in 1929, twenty year old Louis Ojukwu moved to Lagos with nothing, but 10 years later, he was already managing his own chain of businesses which included, Ojukwu Stores, Ojukwu Textiles and Ojukwu Transport Company. By 1950, Ojukwu Transport Company had over 200 Trucks in its fleet.
In Lagos, he secured a job at John Holt as a Tyre Sales Clerk. It was while working there that he observed that many Igbo traders who came to Lagos to buy tyres also bought textiles as well and the severe strain a lack of adequate transportation had on Eastern Textile Traders.
With his meagre saving, Louis Ojukwu travelled to Onitsha and opened his first business venture called ‘Ojukwu Stores’ and employed one of his relatives to oversee it. He then returned to Lagos and started sending down textiles through lorries to his shop in Onitsha while still working at John Holt. Soon, his textile business boomed.
By 1930, he bought a second hand truck and employed a driver in other to start transporting his goods himself and thus 'Ojukwu Transport Company' was born. Working with the West African Railway Company and the newly inaugurated Produce Boards, he also made his fleet of trucks available for the transportation of commodities of other traders.
Ojukwu Transport Company was the first transport company between the Eastern Region and Lagos from the Asaba end of the River Niger after they have crossed over from Onitsha by boat.
Louis Ojukwu worked tirelessly and by end of the 1930's, he was the major transport service provider on the East-West Road.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the British Government requested the use of Ojukwu’s fleet of trucks for the war effort to which he agreed.
When the war ended in 1945, the British Government recognized the sacrifices he made and honoured him with Knight of the British Empire (KBE). The end of the war also created a high demand for raw materials from West Africa which helped Ojukwu Transport Company explode within a short time, so he diversified into other businesses.
Some of Sir Ojukwu's early drivers such as Chief Ilodibe (Ekene Dili Chukwu) Transport Company and Chief Izuchukwu (Izuchukwu Transport Company) would later become Transport moguls themselves.
Sir Louis Ojukwu was so wealthy that in 1956 when Queen Elizabeth II visited Nigeria, the British authorities borrowed his Rolls Royce Silver Wraith and personal driver to chauffeur the Queen around.
Louis Ojukwu was also the Financial Pillar of Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NCNC Party. So when the party came to power in 1960, he was offered the position of Finance Minister, but he turned it down, and the position was given to Chief Okotie-Eboh.
Sir Louis died in September 1966 in Nkalagu, present day Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Sir Louis CV is the most intimidating I have ever seen and probably will ever see. He was:
The Founding President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange
President, African Continental Bank
Chairman, Nigerian Cement Company (NIGERCEM)
CEO, Ojukwu Transport Company
Chairman, Nigerian National Shipping Line
Chairman, Lion of Africa Insurance Company
Chairman, BISCO Nigeria Limited
Chairman, Nigerian Industrial Development Bank
Vice President, Lagos Chamber Of Commerce
Chairman, Palm Line Shipping Company
Chairman, Nigerian Produce Marketing Board
Chairman, Eastern Nigerian Development Corporation
Chairman, Costain West Africa
Director, Shell D'Arcy Petroleum
Director, Thomas Wyatt & Son
Director, Nigerian Coal Corporation
Director, Guinness Nigeria Limited
Director, Nigerian Tobacco Company
Director, Daily Times of Nigeria
The man was simply larger than life. Sir Louis also owned numerous building, landed properties and stocks. It is estimated that as at the time he died in September 1966, he was worth about 4 Billion Dollars in today's money.
There is no age limit to create your own business, but opportunities do have age limit.
For example, Bill Gates knew that the business opportunity of building Operating System for Personal Computers has an age limit, so he was so much in a hurry to catch up with the opportunity before its age limit so he dropped out of university to start Microsoft Corporation.
Steve Jobs also knew that the business opportunity of building affordable Personal Computer has a age limit, so he was so much in a hurry to catch up with it, that he dropped out of school to start Apple Inc.
Mark Zuckerberg also knew that Social Media was the biggest business opportunity of his time which also has an age limit, so he was so much in a hurry to catch up with the business opportunity before it reaches its age limit, so he quickly dropped out of university to start Facebook Inc.
Although there is no age limit to start a business, but every business opportunity has an age limit.
Don't wait when one comes your way.
No wealthy person had only one source of income. Spread your seed.
Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu Ojukwu, OBE,[1] (1909[2]– September 1966[3]) was a Nigerianbusiness tycoon from the Ojukwu family of Nwakanwa quarters Obiuno Umudim Nnewi. Sir Louis, was the founder of Ojukwu Transport, Ojukwu Stores and Ojukwu Textiles. At his peak, he was the first and founding president of The Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as president of The African Continental Bank. He was also either chairman or on the board of directors of some of Nigeria's most profitable companies such as Shell Oil Nigeria Limited, Guinness Nig. Ltd, Nigerian National Shipping Lines, Nigerian Cement Factory, Nigerian Coal Corporation, Costain West Africa Ltd, John Holt, Nigerian Marketing Board amongst others. He won a parliamentary seat during the nation's first republic. He attended a primary school in Asaba and the Hope Waddell Institute. His son Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was a Nigerian military governor and the president of the secessionist state of Biafra.
In 1936 he met Bishop John Cross Anyogu - then a parish priest at Nnewi. Louis was a Roman Catholic.
Ojukwu started his professional career at the Agricultural department before leaving to join John Holt as a tyre sales clerk. He also incorporated a textile company in Onitsha to supplement his income during this period, already exhibiting a little bit of his entrepreneurial spirit. While at John Holt, he noticed the severe strain a lack of adequate transportation had on Eastern textile traders. He later left John Holt to create a transport company to improve the trading environment for Nigerian traders. 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 II, 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 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.[4] On May 1, 1953, he was appointed head of an NCNC peace committee and given power to choose most of the committee's members. The committee was charged with the responsibility of restoring peace in the regional House of Assembly. His views on policy were a little bit capitalistic and right of Zik's socialist undertones.[5] He was a co-author of a report on the Economic Mission to Europe and North America with Azikiwe, the report recommended the investment of extra funds from the produce marketing board in a regional bank and public corporations to stimulate economic development.[6] Ojukwu died in 1966, just a year before the Nigerian civil war. His son Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the leader of the secessionist state of Biafra. The Ojukwus have produced a family history that bucks the trend in at least one respect: birthing a famous son who became more widely known than his famous father. Most people who know anything of the Ojukwu will only have heard of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, the leader of the old secessionist state of Biafra, or his wife, Bianca. Not many know a certain Louis, father of the better known Emeka, and (here's where he has a bragging right) Nigeria's first billionaire.
Louis Philip Odumegwu-Ojukwu was a man of significant accomplishments. It's perfectly understandable why his achievements currently lie in the shadows of his military commander son's engagements. However, a case can be made for a wider recognition of all the firsts he notched up.
There's a good deal of inspiration to be derived from Louis's story. His many wins were more the product of a strong work ethic than of anything else. Starting off as a low-level employee at the agricultural department and then at John Holt, he beat a path through the uncertain business terrain of pre-independence Nigeria and wound up at the zenith of the country's entrepreneurial ladder.
Perhaps there was something about his background which spurred him on. Nnewi, the town he hailed from, has produced an unusually long list of naira billionaire business people (Innoson's Innocent Chukwuma and Ibeto Group's Cletus Ibeto are just two examples). Whether he had a gene for spotting opportunities or not, he certainly sensed a promise beaconing when he left John Holt to found his own company.
Louis's first big venture was his transport company, which he named after himself. His trucks helped to facilitate cross-country trade by moving products between different regions. Because his transport business was plugging a hole that was still considerably open at the time, he made a significant fortune from it.
Throughout the era of the World War and after, the Ojukwu trucks carried goods and raked in income for their owner. At a point, the British had their supplies for the war moved by Louis's trucks- a service for which Louis was later rewarded; years later, he was conferred with an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II.
The relatively upbeat economic environment of the post World War years presented an opportunity to diversify into other business concerns, and Louis seized upon it. Besides shipping stockfish to Nigeria, he also got involved in real estate and sold textiles and cement.
As his wealth grew, his influence and clout began to extend beyond the industry. He was active in pre-independence politics and was a donor of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), a political party which had Nnamdi Azikiwe as one of its members. At a point, he was elected to the House of Representatives.
Back in his familiar terrain of commerce, Louis became even more influential. He sat on the boards of many of the country's biggest companies and was also a founder and first president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
By the time of his death in 1966, Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu's wealth was worth $4 billion by the current value. Beyond his wealth and bourgeoise culinary tastes, he had lived his entrepreneurial life in an exemplary way, at least in one sense: his meticulousness with his business dealings. The very mindset that gave rise to his successes was the one which caused him to inspect his trucks with such keenness and punctuality. It was the oil that lubricated his business's history-spinning machine.
Parents Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU + Mary Theresa …
1Tenny HAMAN
Grandchildren-in-law
generation -2
no blood relationship
Louis has no grandchildren-in-law recorded.
Summary for the shown extended family
The extended family of Louis has 2 members (including Louis). (additional members of the partner chains are not counted)
No family available
Descendants of Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE
Generation 1
Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE was born in 1909 in Obiuno, Umudim, Nnewi, Nnewi North L.G.A, Anambra State, Nigeria and died in 1966 in Nkalagu, Ishielu L.G.A, Ebonyi State, Nigeria at the age of 57.
Children of Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE:
Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU, nigerian military officer and Politician, 1st President of Biafra, son of Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE, was born on November 4, 1933 in Zungeru, Niger State, Nigeria and died on November 26, 2011 in London, United Kingdom at the age of 78.
He married Njideka Onyekwelu, daughter of C.T. Onyekwelu and Elina-Nwamama Onyekwelu.
Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU and Njideka Onyekwelu had 3 children.
Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU had 1 child.
Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU had 1 child.
Chukwuemeka ODUMEGWU OJUKWU had 3 children.
Ancestors of Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE
Generation 1
Sir Louis Phillip Odumegwu OJUKWU OBE was born in 1909 in Obiuno, Umudim, Nnewi, Nnewi North L.G.A, Anambra State, Nigeria and died in 1966 in Nkalagu, Ishielu L.G.A, Ebonyi State, Nigeria at the age of 57.
