Arthur Nzeribe
| Francis Arthur Nzeribe | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Imo - Orlu | |
|
In office May 1999 – May 2007 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 November 1938 Oguta, Imo State, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Political party | PDP |
Francis Arthur Nzeribe(born 2 November 1938) is a Nigerian politician who was Senator for the Imo Orlu constituency in Imo State from May 1999 to May 2007 on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) slate.
Nzeribe, a multi millionaire investment mogul, was born in Oguta, Imo State on 2 November 1938 to a prominent Oguta family. He is the Ogbuagu, Osuiji, Damanze Oyimba of Oguta. His second wife is the sister of Hajia Asabe Yar’Adua, wife of the late General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, who was brother of President Umaru Yar'Adua.
He attended Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu and Holy Ghost College, Owerri, and then got a scholarship from the Nigerian Ports Authority in 1958 to study marine engineering in England. By 1960 he was selling life insurance to black immigrants in Britain. He met Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana that year and started to work for Nkrumah in public relations. He bought his first Rolls Royce a year later. After the fall of Nkrumah in 1966 he lost influence in Ghana.
In 1969 Nzeribe started up 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. Today, he is believed to be worth over 1.5 billion dollars. In Nigeria, Nzeribe built up Sentinel Assurance and other companies. His country home in Oguta is called Heaven of Peace, an opulent and plush estate that contains multiple intimidating mansions that still rival anything you can get anywhere in Africa. In 1983 he spent N12m to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu. In 1993, he was a prominent supporter of the Association for a Better Nigeria, which backed General Ibrahim Babangida. Using the Ibrahim Babangida-supported ABN platform he campaigned for, and dubiously succeeded in the annulment of the fairest and freest presidential election in the history of Nigeria. He continued further his mission to legitimize the dictatorship of maximum ruler, General Sanni Abacha, which was resolutely resisted by the Nigerian people and the will of God.
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