Biography

Obi of Onitsha (Alfred Achebe): Biography, Age, Wife, Children, Net Worth and Source of Wealth

Published

2 years ago

2022/07/24

His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe CFR, mni is a traditional ruler and the 21st Obi of Onitsha, in Anambra State, South-Eastern Nigeria.

He served as the executive director at Shell Petroleum Development Company and was once the Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He is chancellor of Ahmadu Bello Universitysince 2015, and was earlier chancellor of Kogi State University.

Achebe also serves as the chairman of the board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria, and the Chairman of International Breweries (ABInBev) Nigeria. Before emerging as the Obi of Onitsha, in 2002, he had a long and distinguished career in the Royal Dutch Shell Group serving as Director in various companies in the group.

Wife

Chinwe Ngozi (née Ononye)

Children

Ezennia Odiakosa
Chinedu
Eziamaka
lfunanya
Uchenna and Chinwe.

Age

14 May 1941

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and HRH Obi of Onitsha

Education:

He attended Government Secondary School Owerri. Achebe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1966 and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Columbia University.

In 1979, he attended the maiden Senior Executive Course of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, near Jos.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State blessed by HRH Obi of Onitsha

Career:

After graduation from the university, Achebe worked briefly in the United States before he returned to Nigeria in 1972 after the Nigerian civil war and began work with Shell Petroleum Company.

He is currently a trustee, National Traditional Rulers Council and its state Chairman in Anambra State. Besides his long tenure as director of Shell Nigeria, Obi Achebe was also, during 1985 – 87, a director of several other Shell companies in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Liberia and Angola.

Source of Wealth and life as Obi of Onitsha

Outside Shell, Obi Achebe has held positions on the governing councils of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, and the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association. In corporate life, Obi Achebe was chairman of Diamond Bank PLC and the Universal Insurance PLC and is currently the chairman of Unilever Nigeria PLC, Intafact Beverages Limited (SAB-Miller), and Omak Maritime Limited.

On two occasions, Obi Achebe has served the nation on panels of inquiry in the petroleum sector. In 1976, he was a member of the Administrative Panel of Enquiry on the Port Harcourt Refinery. In 2004, President Obasanjo called on him to be Chairman of the Presidential Enquiry into the February 2003 Fuel Shortage in the country.

In 2005, Obi Achebe was a delegate to the National Political Reform Conference representing the traditional rulers of South-Eastern States. He became Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Management Reforms and coordinated the traditional rulers’ forum at the Conference.

Obi Achebe belongs to a string of social, professional and voluntary (non-profit) organisations in Nigeria and overseas, where he has made invaluable contributions in various capacities. He is a fellow of both the Nigerian Institute of Management and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. He is a Life Member of the Nigerian Economic Society and member of the Nigerian Institute of Personnel Management and Nigerian Environmental Society. He is a Vice-Patron of Island Club, Lagos; Vice-Patron of Lagos Country Club, and Member of the Metropolitan Club, Lagos.

On bilateral and multilateral relations, Obi Achebe has also represented Nigeria’s interests on social, cultural and commercial matters. He has been a member of the Nigeria-Britain Association (NBA) and a life member of the counterpart Britain-Nigeria Association (BNA). He has served as a member of the Governing Board of the BNA, the Advisory Board of the Britain-Nigeria Business Council, and the Board of Trustees of the Africa Centre, all based in the United Kingdom. On becoming a traditional ruler, the Africa Centre, in recognition of his services, made him one of its five Patrons, with Nelson Mandela as the Grand Patron.

Net Worth

Obi of Onitsha is one of the wealthiest traditional rulers in Nigeria, he has an estimated net worth of over ?100 Billion