By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Maverick business magnate and former lawmaker, Senator Francis Arthur Nzeribe, died yesterday morning, leaving a legacy of controversial treats.
The curtain finally fell on the man whose heroics contributed to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election by the military government of former head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida.
According to reports, Nzeribe died at the age of 83, of an undisclosed ailment at a foreign hospital.
“He died this morning in a hospital abroad. The family will soon release a statement,” a family source said.
A high-profile businessman and politician, Nzeribe was elected a senator to represent Orlu Federal Constituency at the return to civilian governance in 1999.
Said to be involved in a network of controversial businesses, including arms dealing, and hospitality, among others he had been suspended indefinitely from the Senate over an allegation of N22 million fraud by his kinsman Senate President then, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
Born on November 2, 1938, the late Nzeribe represented his constituency in the Red Chamber at various times between October and December 1983 (before the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari sacked the civilian president of Alhaji Shehu Shagari); and from May 1999 to May 2007, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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Earlier at various times rumoured death, he finally bade the final farewell yesterday.
*Childhood
A multi-billionaire investment mogul, the late Nzeribe was born in Oguta, Imo State on November 2, 1938, to a former lawyer and state counsel, Oyimba Nzeribe.
His grandfather, Akpati Nzeribe, held the traditional title of Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Damanze Oyimba of the highest traditional title in Oguta.
Nzeribe’s second wife is the sister of the wife of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Hajia Asabe Yar’Adua, who was the brother of the late president Umaru Yar’Adua.
Nzeribe lost his mother when he was a primary school student, while his father was away in Great Britain studying law.
A citation on the deceased said he was taken care of by Catholic priests who helped him further his education, including attendance at Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu, and Holy Ghost College, Owerri.
*Working life
According to Wikipedia, in 1957, Nzeribe travelled to Lagos where he worked with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as an engineering cadet.
The next year, he received a scholarship from the NPA to study marine engineering. Nzeribe took courses at Portsmouth College of Technology in the United Kingdom and later attended Chesterfield College of Technology in England.
His foray into the business world started in 1960 when he started selling life insurance to black immigrants in the UK. Nzeribe eventually returned to Nigeria in 1961, where he was briefly an employee of Shell Petroleum, and later, for a few months an Air Force cadet. He also worked for Gulf Oil at the firm’s Escravos facility.
After leaving the services of Gulf Oil, he returned to London, where he opened a public relations firm, Jeafan, with a Ghanaian and two English partners.
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The firm worked with several 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 the late Ghanaian president, Kwame Nkrumah.
Thereafter, turned to a career in public relations. President Nkrumah was said to have introduced him to other African leaders. 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 developed a working relationship with the head of the liberation council, General Joseph Ankrah, but when Ankrah left office in April 1969, Nzeribe lost all influence in Ghana.
In 1969, Nzeribe started up the Fanz Organisation based in London, dealing in heavy construction, arms, oil brokerage, publishing, and property investment, with much business in the Middle East and Gulf states.
According to reports, by 1979, Fanz had an annual trading turnover of £70 million. By 2018, Nzeribe was believed to be worth over $1.5 billion.
In Nigeria, Nzeribe built Sentinel Assurance Company, among other companies. He lived in a country home in Oguta, called Heaven of Peace, an estate that contains multiple mansions.
In 1983 was alleged to have spent a whopping sum of 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.
*Politics
His road to some infamy came on June 10, 1993, when he tried to stop the election, relying on a court order that his group, pro-Babangida Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), got from a midnight ruling from the late Justice Bassey Ikpeme of Abuja High Court.
Nzeribe was elected senator for the Imo Orlu constituency in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003. In November 2002, the then-Senate President, Anyim suspended him indefinitely for alleged fraud probably because Nzeribe was said to be planning an impeachment motion against him.
In April 2006, the Orlu People’s Consultative Assembly, sponsored by the governor of Imo State Achike Udenwa, staged what it called “One million March” to drum up support for Nzeribe’s recall from the Senate.
In the December 2006 PDP primaries for the 2007 senatorial candidates, he was defeated by a relatively unknown, Osita Izunaso.
In August 2007 Nzeribe was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.
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*Literary
Many books were written by, and about his life, including “Francis Arthur Nzeribe” (1985). “Nigeria, another hope betrayed: The second coming of the Nigerian military”. Nigeria: The Turning Point: A Charter for Stability” (1988), “Nigeria I Believe: A manifesto for the Third Republic”, “Nigeria: Seven years After Shehu Shagari (1990), among other references
In 2014, a Ghanaian, Asamoah Obed Yao, wrote a book,” Political History of Ghana (1950-2013): The Experience of a Non-conformist”, referring to Nzeribe.
His silence on the political and other fronts compelled a reporter to ask a question on February 11, 2018, “Where is Arthur Nzeribe.”
Referring to his trouble with Anyim, a writer wrote, on 20 November 2002, “Anyim Vs Nzeribe, Another Rumble in the Jungle”.
A much-suspected character, everyone was warned to be careful with him.
On December 5, 2006, a journalist wrote a piece that summarised the eclipse of the political forays of Nzeribe: “End game for Nzeribe, as 24 years reign crashes”. Several attempts to relaunch himself, it was argued, failed, before the curtain finally fell yesterday.
