On Sunday, news broke on the death of former Nigerian Senator and a popular businessman, Francis Arthur Nzeribe. He was born November 2, 1938 and died at the age of 83 years old.
The late Senator’s family sources yesterday confirmed his death, revealing that he was declared dead at a foreign hospital following an undisclosed ailment.
Confirming his death, the family released a statement jointly signed by Ojiabu Francis Anyegbu Nzeribe; Anthony Akpati Nzeribe and Ojiabu Oliver Nwedo Nzeribe.
The family noted that traditional consultations has commenced, promising to release a programme for his funeral rites in due course.
They, however, appealed to members of the public to respect the privacy of the family to enable them to grieve in peace.
The statement noted that “The Nzeribe Royal Family of Umudei Royal Village of Oguta in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State in total submission to the will of God Almighty and in appreciation of a remarkably worthy life hereby announces the death of our Son, Cousin, Uncle, Husband Father, and Grandfather.
Distinguished Senator, Chief Francis Arthur Uzoma Nzeribe (Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Damanze Oyimba of Oguta on the 5th day of May 2022 at the age of 83.
“While we are pained by this loss, we are proud of this African Legend who distinguished himself in various fields including Sports, International Business, Politics and gave the Nzeribe brand worldwide acclaim.
“The family has immediately commenced the necessary traditional consultations and will, in due course, release a programme for his funeral rites.
“We appeal to the public to respect the privacy of the family and the solemnity of this event to enable us to grieve in peace”, the statement appealled.
Francis Arthur Nzeribe was a Nigerian politician who was Senator who represented the people of Orlu Senatorial constituency in Imo State from October 1983 to December 1983 and from 1999 to May 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Arthur Nzeribe, as he was popularly known, was a multi-billionaire investment mogul who was born in Oguta, Imo State.
His father, Oyimba Nzeribe, was a lawyer and former state counsel, and his grandfather, Akpati Nzeribe, held the traditional title of Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Damanze Oyimba of Oguta.
Arthur Nzeribe was married to his first wife, the Princess of Illah, Dr. Anthonia Ogbeyanu Ngozi Odaze Nzeribe, who has several traditional titles, including Ogbuenyi. She was married to the late politician for over 30 years. The second woman was Joan Edugie whose marriage to the politician remained controversial till his death.
The first wife is the elder sister to Hajia Asabe Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, wife of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who was the elder brother of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and Founder and President of the Asabe Shehu Yar’Adua Foundation.
Nzeribe lost his mother when he was a primary school student, while his father was away in Great Britain studying law.
His care was taken over by Catholic priests who were involved in furthering his education.
He attended Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu and Holy Ghost College, Owerri. In 1957, he traveled to Lagos where he obtained employment with Nigeria’s port authority as an engineering cadet, and a year later, he received a scholarship from the NPA to study marine engineering.
He took courses at Portsmouth College of Technology and later attended Chesterfield College of Technology in England.
By 1960 he was selling life insurance to black immigrants in Britain. Returning to Nigeria in 1961 he was briefly an employee of Shell, then for a few months an Air Force cadet. Thereafter, he worked for Gulf Oil at the firm’s Escravos facility.
Nzeribe soon left Gulf Oil and returned to London, where he opened Jeafan, a public relations firm, with one Ghanaian and two English partners.
The firm worked with a number of African diplomatic missions in London, including the Ghana High Commission.
The well dressed and mannered Nzeribe was able to gain the confidence of a few notable clients and through the Ghana Commission, he met Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and started to work for him in public relations.
Nkrumah subsequently introduced him to other African leaders and in 1966, when the National Liberation Council (NLC) overthrew Nkrumah, Nzeribe and Jeafan briefly lost influence in Ghana but the NLC leadership soon turned to Jeafan to help improve the public image of their administration.
Nzeribe then developed a working relationship with Joseph Arthur Ankrah, head of the liberation council, but when Ankrah left office in April 1969, Nzeribe lost influence in Ghana.
In 1969, Nzeribe started up the Fanz Organization based in London, dealing in heavy construction, arms, oil brokerage, publishing and property investment, with much business in the Middle East and Gulf states.
By 1979, Fanz had an annual trading turnover of £70 million. He is believed to be worth over 1.5 billion dollars as of 2018.
In Nigeria, Nzeribe built up Sentinel Assurance and other companies. His country home in Oguta is called Heaven of Peace, an estate that contains multiple mansions.
In 1983, he spent N12m to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu. Ten years later, he was a prominent supporter of the Association for a Better Nigeria, which backed General Ibrahim Babangida.
On June 10, 1993, Nzeribe tried to stop the election, relying on a court order which his group, Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), got from a midnight ruling from late Justice Bassey Ikpeme of Abuja High Court. ABN was known to be pro-Babangida.
The widow of the politician, Dr. Anthonia Ogbeyanu Ngozi Odaze Nzeribe is a business woman, an artist, and studied architecture at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria before proceeding to the London College of Arts. She was born in Vom, near Jos in Plateau State of Nigeria on February 29, 1956.
As a staff of the defunct Nigerian Airways, she was trained as as flights stewardess at the Crainebank Aviation Training School London.
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