Welcome to MJVAFRICA network.....pBefore Aliko Dangote, This Igbo Man Was The Richest Person In Africa Johnnasa Jun 24, 2020 4:06 PM Opera News Nigeria Only for Opera News fans. Follow Aliko Dangote is currently the richest man in Africa with worth of over 8 billion dollars. But did you know that before Aliko Dangote, there was an Igbo man who held that spot for many years? Unlike Dangote, the Igbo man I speak of did not come from a wealthy background. He fought his way to the top. No, I am not trying to down play the ingenious nature with which Aliko Dangote rose to the top, but it is a well known fact that Dangote was assisted by his uncle, Alhaji Dandata. Note that Aliko Dangote's maternal great grand father, Alhassan Dantata was one of the wealthiest men in Nigeria and west Africa as at 1955 but he was NOT a recorded billionaire. The Igbo man I speak of is no other than Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu. You may or may not know him to be the father of Biafran "warlord" General Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. This Igbo man, Sir Louis Ojukwu was the first Nigerian to be recorded a billionaire in history. If you convert his wealth in the value of currency today, he will be worth over 4 billion dollars. Since he did not have help from relatives, how did he amass so much wealth? Sir Ojukwu's story is worth telling. In 1929, after completing his secondary education one year before, Sir Ojukwu secured a job with John Holt Lagos, as a tyre sales representative. While there, he observed that many Igbo traders travelled to Lagos to buy their wares, including tyres and textiles. This prompted him to travel to Onitsha to set up his first business venture "Ojukwu Stores" and employed one of his relatives in charge of it. He returned to Lagos and started sending textiles to his store, while still working at John Holt. The textile business boomed within one year, so he bought a second-hand truck and employed a driver to move the goods from Lagos to his store in Onitsha. That was how Ojukwu Transport Company was born. It is worth stating that many popular transport company owners in Nigeria today started under Sir Louis Ojukwu as drivers. Some of them include, Chief Ilodibe (owner of Ekene Dili Chukwu Motors) and Chief Izuchukwu (Izuchukwu Transport Company). By 1950, Sir Ojukwu's transport company had over 200 trucks in his fleet. He became so wealthy that in 1956, the Federal Government of Nigeria had to borrow his Rolls Royce car and personal driver to drive the Queen of England around when she visited. Again, the purpose of this article is not to rubbish the significance or importance of the business acumen of Aliko Dangote. He too fought his way to the top, but unlike Sir Louis Ojukwu, Dangote had support and financial assistance from his family. Also, I have not tried to compare both men because they made their fortunes at different times in history, under different circumstances. But to say that Aliko Dangote is the first Nigerian billionaire to become the richest person in Africa is ignorance. From Opera News Hub The views expressed in this article are the writer's, they do not reflect the views of Opera News. Please report any fake news or defamatory statements to feedback-newshub@operanewshub.com Report a problem likelaugh 71 dislike dislike Open in Opera News to see all hot comments Mgbọrọgwụ·1d 7 Reply Igbo amaka. In my next life, I'll still be Igbo. AsaSopuru·1d 5 Reply No wonder they say General Ojukwu fought Nigeria with his father's money. Chie131·1d Reply Oga linus +234-0905395****·21h 1 Reply Before Yoruba and hausa and other Igbo haters come out to shout that Dangote is richer than Ojukwu now, please let them check the value of $4bn in 1960 and compare it with $8bn dollars now I'm sure that they will see that $4bn that time is worth over $70bn now so Dangote and his uncle Dantata put together are poorer than Ojukwu if we compare their wealth Upto now, Ojukwu shares in many companies are still intact