WHY THE IBRU BROTHERS BOYCOTTED THEIR NIECE’S WEDDING

The Ibru brothers (Michael, Felix, late Bernard, Goodie and
late Alex) are very known in Nigeria.
Their prominence and popularity stemmed from their entrepreneurial acumen and
the tightly knitted brotherhood that exists among them.

Today, their business empire which includes virtually all
the sectors of Nigerian economy is in billions of naira. But 3 recent events
have put a question mark on the brotherhood and brotherliness that has been
existing amongst them for sometime now.

One of the events was the law suit instituted by Omamo
Investments Corporation, a company solely owned by Alex Ibru, against Tourism
Company Nigeria,
the owners of Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria
Island, in which Goodie Ibru, is the chairman and late
Alex, a director.

The law suit came up on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, at Federal Palace High Court, Victoria
Island, Lagos. Although,
people are insinuating that Mrs Maiden Ibru, Alex’s wife, instituted the law
suit against her brother-in-law, we reliably gathered that the case had been
instituted by Alex himself before he died, and that his wife was only carrying
out her late husband’s orders. And going by what Lady Maiden Ibru said in court
when she was allowed by the judge to speak, it showed that Alex was
disappointed in his immediate elder brother, Goodie. It also buttressed the
fact that Maiden Ibru was acting on her husband’s instruction by going to
court.

This is what Maiden Ibru said in court, “Six months before
my husband died, the doctors told me that he was going to die,” she began. “And
for five months, he was out of circulation and nobody saw him. Even his family
members did not bother about him.”

As she explained, the late Alex Ibru was so dissatisfied with his kinsmen that
he embarked on a hunger strike two weeks before his eventual death. When the
family members learnt of it, some of them, including Goodie, visited him.

“Then my husband said he was going to fight
him to the finish, dead or alive. That even when he dies, he would continue the
fight unless Goodie resigned as chairman of the company — Tourist Company
Nigeria Plc,” she continued. “He said that of all his brothers, the last person
that he thought would betray him was Goodie. They had altered some of the
company’s documents, diverted money and committed all sort of atrocities
without the knowledge of my husband. I am a widow and I have children to take
care of.”

In a revelation that shocked those present at the court, Maiden said that as
she was about to enter the court, she saw her husband, who encouraged her to
proceed with her actions, because he was himself unhappy with Goodie.
Suing on behalf of Omamo Investments Corporation, owned by her late husband,
Maiden is seeking to close down Tourist Company, which owns the Federal Palace
Hotel and Casino located in Victoria Island, Lagos, on allegations of
indebtedness.
“Omamo Investments, between 2003 and 2009, lent to the Tourist Company $7.1m,
N610m, N381m and N19m, which the company has been unable to repay,” she wrote
in her petition. She prayed the court to wind up the company for insolvency,
adding that she had made several futile demands on the respondent.
“The respondent has failed beyond resuscitation, has insufficient assets to
meet its liabilities, does not have the capacity to meet the conditions for
which it was incorporated, and has suffered a total erosion of its capital
base,” she argued. “The respondent is both cash-flow and balance-sheet
insolvent, and has not been carrying on effectively, the business of hotelling
and catering.”
  She then urged the court to wind up the Company under the provisions of
the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAP C20 LFN 2004, and appoint the
President of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) or any nominee of his
as provisional liquidator.

As a result of the on-going crisis, the Ibrus family were
conspicuously absent at the traditional white wedding of the daughter of Lady
Maiden Ibru and late Alex  which took
place on Saturday April 21, 2012 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island,
Lagos. It was an absence that was noticed by some of the guests who made it a
point of discussion while leaving the venue of the marriage ceremony.

Even the letter of invitation sent out by Mrs Maiden Ibru,
showed that the entire Ibru family were sidetracked in  the traditional wedding. The letter heading
was Lady Maiden Ibru instead of the family of Late Alex Ibru. These are
certainly an indication of a big crack in the family.

Oskar Ibru, who stood in as the father of the bride on that
day couldn’t have done so if all is well within the Ibru family.

The statement made by Aremo Olusegun Osoba, who acted more
or less as the father of the day, was also an indication that money is tearing
apart the Ibru brothers.

Aremo Olusegun Osoba said in his capacity as the chairman at
the reception, that, late Alex Ibru tokld him and Sam Amuka(publisher of Vanguard
Newspaper), on his sick bed that they should stand in as fathers for his
daughter during her wedding. The two were very conspicuous at the traditional
wedding of Anita Ibru.

If all is well within the family, why would the man ask his
friends to stand in for him as his daughter’s fathers on the day of her wedding
when two of his elder brothers are still alive and hale and hearty.

We learnt that Anita’s white wedding will come up later this
year in London. Meanwhile, Anita
will be living with her husband, Marcel Kouassigan in Accra,
Ghana, pending that time.
He is the Head, Marketing and Client Services, Cal Bank, Accra,
Ghana.