Arthur Nzeribe dominated Orlu politics and remained visible at the national scene for years before he was forcefully retired by a coalition of forces
By Emeka Alex Duru
The remains of maverick politician and erstwhile senator representing Imo West (Orlu) Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe, were on Saturday, laid to rest at his country home of Oguta, in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo.
Nzeribe died at the age of 83, after almost 40 years of domineering stature in the country’s politics. According to a release by his Umudei Royal Village of Oguta in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, he died on Thursday, May 5, 2022.
The late senator had not been of sound health before his death. He was at a time, spotted in a viral picture sitting on a chair and being attended to by a relation.
In his remarks, Imo state governor, Hope Uzodimma said late Nzeribe would always be remembered for his contributions in the political, business and philanthropic sectors.
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Uzodimma said: “I took time to go through the tribute and discovered we are all saying the same thing – that he lived great.
“Today, we are touched by words of our friend, the man who defined Nigeria’s political scape.
“We may have disagreed politically because of party A and party B, but Ogbuagu, Oshiji Damanze Oyimba was a common denominator. He created a platform that became a school.
“The wisdom most of us gathered from the school is still being used as an asset.
“Yes, we may have lost him, but at the end of the day, his actions and activities both in active politics, business and philanthropy will always speak of him,” he added.
Earlier in a sermon delivered at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Oguta, Rev. Fr. John Obilo extolled the life and time of late Nzeribe.
Obilo, warned political leaders against injustice and withholding of truth.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event attracted personalities including former governors of the state, Emeka Ihedioha and Ikedi Ohakim.
Also at the event were Sen. Osita Izunaso, Managing Director of NIWA, George Muoghalu, traditional rulers and the clergy, among others.
The late Senator began his early life with Catholic priests who were involved in furthering his education. He attended Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu and Holy Ghost College, Owerri.
In 1957, he traveled to Lagos where he obtained employment with Nigeria Ports Authority as an engineering cadet. A year later, he received a scholarship from the NPA to study marine engineering.
He took courses at Portsmouth College of Technology and later attended Chesterfield College of Technology in England. By 1960 he was selling life insurance to black immigrants in Britain. Returning to Nigeria in 1961 he was briefly an employee of Shell, then for a few months an Air Force cadet. Thereafter, he worked for Gulf Oil at the firm’s Escravos facility.
Nzeribe later left Gulf Oil and returned to London, where he opened Jeafan, a public relations firm, with one Ghanaian and two English partners. The firm worked with a number of African diplomatic missions in London including the Ghana High Commission. Through the Ghana Commission, he met former Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah and started to work for him in public relations. Nkrumah also introduced him to other African leaders, including late President William Tolbert of Liberia.
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 Joseph Arthur Ankrah, head of the liberation council.
In 1969, Nzeribe started the Fanz Organization based in London, dealing in heavy construction, arms, oil brokerage, publishing and property investment, with much business in the Middle East and Gulf states. By 1979, Fanz had an annual trading turnover of £70 million. He was believed to be worth over 1.5 billion dollars as of 2018. In Nigeria, Nzeribe built up Sentinel Assurance and other companies.
His country home in Oguta, called Heaven of Peace, an estate that contains multiple mansions, was a beehive of political activities in his active days.
Nzeribe, announced himself forcefully to Nigeria’s politics in the Second Republic when he represented Imo West (Orlu) at the National Assembly on the platform of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). He momentarily went out of circulation following the fall of the republic to military adventurists on December 31, 1983.
He was later to resurface in the ill-fated General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida political transition programme where he won a senatorial seat on the ticket of the then Social Democratic Party (SDP). A noxious organisation, the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), which he formed with like minds, provided the basis on which the 1993 presidential election presumed to have been won by newspaper mogul, MKO Abiola, was annulled by Babangida.
Nzeribe explained his formation of ABN as a hit back at Abiola for deriding him as a lousy fellow. The controversies surrounding the annulment forced Buhari out of office.
Nzeribe later came back in the General Sani Abach regime and was among the brains that pushed for the transformation of the late head of state to a civilian president. He was elected senator in the present dispensation on the ticket of the then All Peoples Party (APP) but later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The late Senator dominated Orlu, Imo and Nigerian politics for years before he was forcefully retired by a coalition of forces. He was an enigma of sort, who could cut different postures at different times. He could be very humorous but always a man of high self-esteem. Though taciturn, he dominated his environment and was not one to be ignored. Arthur Nzeribe was at home with his Igbo heritage, accounting for his acquisition of the traditional titles of Ogbuagu, Oshiji, Damanze, Oyimba, among others.
