Felix Ovudoroye Ibru (7 December 1935 – 12 March 2016) was a Nigerian architect the first democratically elected Governor of Delta State and Senator for

Delta Central Senatorial District Delta Central Senatorial District in Delta State, Nigeria covers 8 local governments which include Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Sapele, Okpe, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Udu The udu is a plosive aerophone (in this case implosive) and an i ...

. Until his death he held the position of President General of the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU). As a traditional chieftain of his homeland, Ibru bore the tribal honorific Olorogun and often used it as a pre-nominal style. This title is also borne by many of the members of his large family in the same way.

Background

Ibru was born on 7 December 1935 at Agbarha-Otor in the

Ughelli North Ughelli North is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the city of Ughelli. It has an area of 818 km2 and a population of 321,028 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 333. Notable towns in ...

local government area of Delta State to Chief Peter Epete Ibru and Chief (Mrs). Janet Omotogor Ibru, the second of seven children. His brother

Michael Ibru Michael Onajirevbe Ibru (25 December 1930 – 6 September 2016) was a Nigerian pioneer industrialistbillionaire business magnate and the founder of the Ibru Organization, one of the largest conglomerates in Africa. As a traditional chieftain of ...

is the founder of the

Ibru Organization The Ibru Organization, established in 1956, became one of the largest conglomerates in Africa. By 1990 it had between 9,000 and 11,000 employees. By 2009 the Ibru Organization was a multi-billion dollar business with interests that included shippin ...

, a major conglomerate. He was educated at Yaba Methodist School, and later Igbobi College where he was Head Boy in 1955. He won the Elder Dempster Lines Scholarship to travel to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. After his secondary school education at Igbobi College, Ibru proceeded to the Nottingham School of Architecture in England where he qualified as an

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

in 1962. While a student in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, he was elected the first Black President of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

with responsibility for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

and Leicestershire. As a result, he was presented to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace in 1960 Shortly after his qualification as an architect in 1962, he worked briefly with the Jewish Agency SOCHNUT, on various projects relating to farm settlements (

kibbutzim A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming ha ...

and

moshavim A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 ...

) and prefabricated buildings in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. He later enrolled at the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ( he, הטכניון – מכון טכנולוגי לישראל) is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion ...

for post-graduate studies and qualified with an MSc (Arch) in 1963. He returned to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

at the end of that year and took up an appointment with the

Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education The Federal Ministry of Education is a part of the Federal Ministries of Nigeria that directs education in Nigeria. It is located at Block 5A (8th Floor), Federal Secretariat Complex, Shehu Shagari Way, Central Area, P.M.B. 146, Garki, Abuja. H ...

as the first resident Lecturer in Architecture at the

Yaba College of Technology Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded in 1947, and is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos. It has a student enrollment of over 16,000. Overview Yaba College of Technology ...

. He was elected member of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in 1969, registered by the Architects registration Council of Nigeria in (ARCON) 1971, and elected Fellow of the

Nigerian Institute of Architects The Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) is a professional body for architects primarily in Nigeria. History The idea for the formation of an independent professional architect's organization in Nigeria was first conceived and motivated by three ...

in 1995. In 1997 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricult ...

and a Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

Business career

Ibru established an architectural firm, Roye Ibru Associates, which, in 1971, went into partnership with

Alan Vaughan-Richards Alan Vaughan-Richards (1925–1989) was a British-Nigerian architect who was active in the post-colonial architecture industry of Nigeria. He engaged architects on the potential influence of African forms in architectural design through publication ...

and Associates to establish the firm of Ibru Vaughan-Richards and Associates (Planning Partnership). As one of the two principal partners of the firm, Chief Ibru was involved in the design and supervision of more than 40 projects across the country. They include:

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

Sports Centre, Oguta Lake Resort, The Diette-Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, Office extension for Elf Nig. Ltd. Victoria Island,

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

University master plan, New Layout Market, Port Harcourt, Mile 3 Diobu Market, Port Harcourt, Sheraton Lagos Hotel & Towers, Ikeja, University of Benin sports centre, University of Benin Master plan, Faculty of Science buildings, University of Benin & Ogun State and the Ogun State Polytechnic Master plan. As consultant to Ibru Prefabs Limited, he was responsible for the design and supervision of several geodesic domes of various dimensions in many parts of the country. In 1971, under the auspices of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, he was invited to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, as a member of a panel on foreign investment. In 1974, he delivered a lecture at the Harvard Business School, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on Multinationals. It was titled "Emerging Role Of The African Entrepreneur In The Economy And Its Relationship With Multinational Corporations: Competition, Partnership, Cooperation and Absorption".

Political career

Ibru's political activities began in 1983, when he unsuccessfully contested for a seat in the Senate. He ran for the governorship of Delta State in 1991 and emerged as the first executive governor of the newly created Delta State in 1992. He won the 2003 senatorial elections for Delta Central.

Personal life

Felix Ibru died on 12 March 2016 at the age of 80. Ibru was married with 6 children and 6 grandchildren all of whom survive him.

References

External links