See Small City With A Number Of Billionaires in Nigeria (Photos)

Nnewi is the one of the popular city in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Nnewi as a metropolitan city encompasses two local government areas, Nnewi North, Nnewi South; Nnewi North is commonly referred to as Nnewi central, and comprises four autonomous quarters: Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Nnewichi. 

Shortly before Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, reportedly Nigeria’s first black billionaire, and founding president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. The royal honor came after.

He helped the British during World War II with his fleet of trucks. He was so wealthy that during the Queen’s visit in 1956, she was chauffeured around in his Rolls-Royce – apparently the only one in the country at the time – on the request of the colonial administration.

Profiled in September 1965 by TIME magazine, Ojukwu made his money by importing dried fish for resale, and diversifying into textiles, cement and transport. When he died a year later, his wealth was an estimated $4 billion in today’s economic value.

His son, Chukwuemeka, who also ended up a billionaire, returned from Oxford University at 22 with a master’s degree in history and led his fellow Igbos into the Nigerian civil war as head of the secessionist state of Biafra in 1967.

Their hometown Nnewi, in the southeastern state of Anambra, either by good fortune or hard work, has bred more naira billionaires than any other town in Nigeria, and possibly Africa. The Igbos, who sometimes refer to themselves as the ‘Jews of Africa’, have entrepreneurship in their blood. They have built themselves from the ground up, with little help from the government, after a controversial policy left them all with 20 pounds each, regardless of their bank balance, at the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970.

Here are some of the billionaires who have also emerged from Nnewi

Cosmas Maduka

Cosmas Maduka, born December 24, 1958, CON is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, the Founder, President and Chairman of the Coscharis Group, an indigenous conglomerate with diverse interest in Manufacturing, ICT, Petrochemical, Auto care and Auto Components, Automobile Sales and Services, Agric and Agro Allied business sectors. Maduka is famous for Coscharis Motors, a leading automobile sales and servicing company. In addition to other brands of cars such as Range Rover, Ford and Jaguar; he is sole distributor of BMW in Nigeria.

In 2015, Maduka was featured in Forbes Africa TV Series “Worst Day with Peace Hyde ” and was estimated to worth $500million USD and was also reported to have been swindled the sum of N21 billion by Ifeanyi Ubah of Capital in a business transaction. Maduka has also appeared in CNN Marketplace Africa interview by Zaner Asher.

Maduka, an Igbo ethnic Christian from Nnewi, Anambra State was born into a poor family of Mr. Peter and Mrs. Rose Maduka in the City of Jos. Maduka began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of six (6), 2years after the demise of his father. He dropped out of primary school and started hawking Akara (beans cake), a popular food staple in Nigeria made from beans to support his mother.

Maduka formally ventured into business at the age of 17 after being wrongly dismissed with the sum of N200.00 by his uncle who had earlier engaged him as an automobile apprentice. He co-founded a spare parts company known as CosDave with his friend named Dave. The startup also failed sooner than expected and Maduka went to found the Coscharis Motor with the sum of three hundred naira (N300) which focused sales of automobile spare parts in 1977. The name of the company according to him is a combination of his first name, Cosmos and his wife, Charity, whom he married at age 21. Maduka business breakthrough started in 1982, when the Nigeria government granted ten (10) motor companies import license, which Coscharis was selected. Today the Coscharis Group is a conglomerate with a net-worth of $500million with several subsidiaries including Manufacturing, ICT, Petrochemical, Auto care and Auto Components, Automobile Sales and Services, Agric and Agro Allied business sectors. Coscharis Motors is a leading distributors of several brands of luxuries cars including Range Rover, Ford and Jaguar.

In 2015, Coscharis Motors became the sole distributors of the BMW in Nigeria and the first company to build an Assembly Plant of Ford Ranger in Nigeria and won the Auto Brand of the Year at the Marketing World Awards held in Ghana. In 2016 the Anambra State approved 5000 hectare of land for Coscharis Farms to cultivate rice, the project has been reported to generate 3000 jobs upon completion. The Coscharis Group is rated one of the top 50 brands in Nigeria by Top 50 Brands Nigeria.

Maduka attributed his success in business to his affiliation with the Japanese. According to Maduka his early close contact with the Japanese made him develop the values of commitment, humility, precision and hard work which were fundamental to his success in business. He had promised to acknowledge in his autobiography.

Cosmas Maduka seats on the board of several reputable companies and organization. He served as a Director in Access Bank Plc., one of the leading banks in Nigeria for 12 years from 2000–2012. 

Innocent Chukwuma

The youngest among six children, Chief (Dr) Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma (OFR), was born into the family of Mr & Mrs Chukwuma Mojekwu of Uru-Umudim, Nnewi, in Anambra State, without the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. But, what he lacked in affluent parental background, he made up for with intelligence, hard-work, discipline and business acumen - qualities that have continued to interplay remarkably in his many ventures.

Innocent Chukwuma founded Innoson Nigeria Limited. The company deals in SUVs, buses, and cars. Innoson established the first Nigerian native assembly plant. Besides, he Innocent Chukwuma has enterprises in Nnewi and Enugu.

Cletus Ibeto

Cletus Ibeto is a successful businessman. The Ibeto Group is considered the largest industrial company in the Southeast of Nigeria. He started as an apprentice of an auto spare parts dealer. Then Mr. Ibeto started his importing business with acid car batteries in Nigeria. He managed to make a conglomerate. The main fields of his business are hospitality with a large number of hotels, motor items, real estate, mineral oils, agriculture, and banking.

In 2018, Ibeto Cement Company Limited was reverse merged with Century Petroleum Corporation. It’s a publicly-traded oil exploration and production enterprise. The company entered the world market. Mr. Ibeto received 70% controlling interest of the enterprise became the Chairman of the Board. His current net worth is 3.7 billion US dollars as nigerianfinder.com.

The list of rich and successful men in Nnewi is really long. All of these entrepreneurs are working hard for the good of their country and for obtaining their profits too. Based on the information available on nigerianinfopedia.com, Cletus Ibeto is the richest man with Nnewi origin.

Besides, he occupies the second place among the richest Igbo man and is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

Gilbert Obiajulu

Dr Gilbert Obiajulu Uzodike hails from Nnewi, a small town in Anambra State which is said to have more billionaires (naira) than anywhere else in Nigeria. He was born in 1949 in the commercial South-Eastern city of Onitsha, also in Anambra.

For his secondary education, he attended College of the Immaculate Conception in Enugu, where he obtained his O-Levels in 1966. He then proceeded to the University of Lagos to study Mechanical Engineering, graduating in 1974.

Gilbert is also an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, where he obtained a Master’s in Business Administration back in 1977.

It should be noted that while it is unclear how Uzodike derived the title ‘Dr’, there are strong indications that he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Purdue University.

Following the completion of his studies at Harvard and prior to the establishment of Cutix Plc in 1982, Dr Gilbert worked briefly with Raychem Corporation, an American military wire and accessories company. It was probably while working there that he garnered enough experience and inspiration to establish his first company.

According to Forbes Africa, Dr Uzodike established Cutix Plc with $1,200, which is roughly about N400,000. But this rather small beginning notwithstanding, he managed to grow the company until it became what it is today. Cutix Plc, by the way, is the first company in South-Eastern Nigeria to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Louis Onwugbenu

Louis Onwugbenu (Louis Carter Moore) established Louis Carter Industries. Mr. Onwugbenu received his nickname during his weekly trips to Lagos for spare parts selling. He sold them under the famous Carter Bridge.

Louis Carter managed to reinvest his earnings into producing car batteries and fittings for pipes. Besides, he involved in agriculture, food industry, and real estate. Mr. Onwugbenu became amulti-millionaire before he reached 30 years old. His conglomerate owns the Carter Industrial Estate which occupies a lot of acres area in Nnewi.

Ifeanyi Ubah

Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, born 3 September 1971, is a Nigerian businessman, entrepreneur and currently the Senator, representing Anambra South in the Nigerian senate and CEO of Capital Oil (CCO, for short), which he founded in 2001.

Ifeanyi was born as the first son of seven children to Mr. & Mrs. Alphonsus Ubah in Umuanuka village in Otolo town of Nnewi, a small town in Anambra State , Nigeria. Due to the inability of his parents to cater for the educational and material needs of their children, Ifeanyi dropped out of Premier academy, Lugbe, Abuja to learn trade at a young age.

He has attended several local and international business courses and seminars in leadership and business mmanagement.

Ifeanyi became an exporter of motor tyres and spare parts majorly in West Africa including Ghana, Sierra Leone , Liberia and DR Congo before he expanded his business ventures in some countries in Europe including Belgium and the United Kingdom.

In 2001, he founded Capital Oil and Gas Limited. He is the founder of The Authority Newspaper , a Nigerian daily newspaper and also the owner of Ifeanyi Ubah F.C. , a football club in the Nigeria Premier League, following its purchase as Gabros International Football Club.

Chief Gabriel Chukwuma

Chief Gabriel Chukwuma is an international businessman with interest in real estate, hospitality industry and sports marketing.

He is the President of Gabros International Football Club, an elite club in the Nigerian Premier League. He brings his vast experience in business and human management to the board. He is the older brother of Innocent Chukwuma. 

Augustine Ilodibe

Augustine Ilodibe started his business when received a gift. One of the priests of the Catholic Church gave him 35 pounds. Augustine invested the money in spare parts trade. He was the first dealer in luxurious bus transportation in Nigeria. Mr. Ilodibe was the only importer of such buses for a long time. He founded Ekene Dili Chukwu Transport which had great popularity. Moreover, Mr. Ilodibe is also involved in brewing and agriculture.

Alexander Chika Okafor

Alexander Chika Okafor founded Chicason Industries. The conglomerate includes A-Z Petroleum and deals with mining, production, and real estate in our country and Sierra Leone.