The Lady Maiden Ibru, MFR , ''née'' Thomopulos (born November 20, 1949) is a Nigerian media executive, newspaper proprietor and high society matriarch. She is the Chair and Publisher of the

Guardian Newspapers Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

Early life and education

Maiden Alex Ibru was born in Sapele, Delta State, on Sunday, November 20, 1949. Her father is Mr. Aristotelis Thomopulos who is a Greek man that settled in Nigeria. Her mother is Mrs. Hannah Thomopulos (née Omaghomi) a granddaughter of Olomu of Koko, the Governor-General of the area in the 1880s. She had elementary education at the Children's Home School,

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. Her secondary education was at Queen's School, Ede. She proceeded to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

where she got a combined honours degree in English and Theatre studies in 1972. She also attended

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in Washington D.C and obtained a master's degree in Communications and media studies in 1974. She and her late husband

Alex Ibru Alex Ibru (1 March 1945 – 20 November 2011) was a Nigerian people, Nigerian businessman, founder and publisher of ''The Guardian (Nigeria), The Guardian'' (Nigeria) newspaper, who was minister of internal affairs from 1993 to 1995 during the mi ...

have five children, namely: Anita, Ose, Toke, Tive and Uvie.

Career

Maiden Alex-Ibru is the wife of

. Chief Ibru was the founder and Chairman of Guardian Press Limited, the holding company that owns Guardian Newspapers and other associated companies. The Guardian newspaper was set up in 1983. Alexander Uruemu Ibru died on November 20, 2011. In 2019, Maiden Ibru was appointed the Chairman of Guardian Press Limited. By this appointment, she also became the Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Before her appointment as publisher and CEO of Guardian Newspapers, she was Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Press Limited for 11 years. Maiden Alex Ibru is also a director of Trinity Foundation, a philanthropic foundation founded by her late husband Alexander Ibru. The foundation provides financial and infrastructural support to institutions and civil society organisations which promote democratic and open society principles. It has donated to the Anglican Church in Nigeria, and built an Ecumenical Centre in Agbarha-Otor.

Recognition

In 2007 the Greek Parliament conferred on Maiden Alex Ibru the “Golden Cross of Welfare”, and in 2012 the

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa ( grc, Πατριαρχεῖον Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ πάσης Ἀφρικῆς, Patriarcheîon Alexandreías kaì pásēs Aphrikês, The Patriarchate of Alexandria and ...

conferred on her the

Ladyship The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

title of the “cross of saint mark”. In 2014 she was given an award SP(FRN) Special Philanthropy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by CECP-(Nig) Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy. In September 2014 she got a National award MFR (Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). On her 70th birthday, celebrated in November 2019,

President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

sent her warm greetings, praising her leadership for the ''Guardian'' newspaper and her work with the Trinity Foundation. According to President Buhari, Maiden Ibru's outstanding contributions to improving the lives of many, especially the girl-child and underprivileged families, deserved spotlighting and commendation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibru, Maiden Alex 1949 births Living people Members of the Order of the Federal Republic Nigerian media executives Nigerian women in business Queen's School, Ibadan alumni University of Ibadan alumni American University alumni Ibru family

Early life and education

Career

Recognition

See also

References