Written By Prince (Dr.) Richard Oma Ahonaruogho, SAN.

Introduction

David Fayemi’s impressively titled book, “The Business Lawyer: Footprints in Business Networking; Commercial Lawyering and Wealth Creation” delivers more than its promise. While its title may be something of a mouthful, further reflection will convince one that its principal object – the inimitable and adroit, Goodie Minabo Ibru, OON, DSc (Honoris Causa), better known by the public simply as Goodie Ibru – deserves all the accolades heaped on him by David in the book. And, more. The Chairman, as he is called by his business associates, professional colleagues and staff of his octopus-like business ventures, needs no introduction.

For over half a century, he – together with his brothers, Olorogun Michael Ibru (the Patriarch of the Ibru dynasty), Olorogun Felix Ibru and Mr. Alex Ibru (all of blessed memory) – bestrode the Nigeria’s corporate, commercial, political and legal landscapes with profound dexterity and made lasting impact. The Chairman, has except fom venturing directly into the murky waters of politics, by himself, achieved greatness in business/commence and law. It is no exaggeration to say that few Nigerian lawyers have been able to match that feat. So, it is perhaps, fitting that a book on his exploits be written for the records and for posterity. And, who better to do that than Mr. Fayemi, whose long years of close professional association with the Chairman in the law firm, G. M. Ibru & Co., have uniquely positioned him to achieve that task.

Mr. Fayemi’s treatise is as comprehensive and thorough as can be. It is hard to imagine that anything meaningful, in terms of its object, has been left out. In its ten wonderfully detailed Chapters, all rendered in beautiful, flowing prose, the author captures the essence of the man, the business icon, the corporate guru and the hands-on barrister like only one with a front-row view of the subject in his elements, can command. It is in the nature of things that this review can only touch on some of those themes ever so briefly. So, forgive me, if I sacrifice, detail for brevity. I assure you that no review can do justice to David’s momentous work.

From One to Ten

The book’s first Chapter unearths the origins of Goodie Ibru’s patrimony. He is the second generation of a distinguished family marked by public service, philanthropy, learning and business engagement. In the Chairman’s case, the fruit certainly did not fall far from the tree, as he and his siblings, Michael, Felix, Bernard, Alex, Grace and Mabel, have a track record that is hardly matched by any family in Nigeria. That account traces The Chairman’s trajectory from his formative years, his time in school, his admission to the English and Nigerian Bars, his professional icons and role models – in short, the foundation and basis of the success story he has turned out to be.

The aphorisms that the way you make your bed is the way you will lie on it, and that morning shows the day couldn’t be truer in the Chairman’s case. He was born great, but he burnished that stroke of good luck with hard work and by making smàrt choices. All this stood him in good stead when, on completion of his pupillage, he established a flourishing commercial law practice, which is the subject of Chapter Two. David’s account of this leaves no one in doubt about the Chairman’s accomplishments in this niche area of law – from which many have benefited.

That is only half of the story, however, as the Chairman’s achievements extend to real estate/property practice and management, labour and industrial relations, private international law, etc. It is worth mentioning, however, that even though Goodie Ibru is the focus of David’s book, he also explores the impact made by other leading commercial and business law firms, particularly in Southern Nigeria, as well as the increasing indispensability of cutting-edge technology as part of the tools of today’s business lawyer – and, indeed, of the future. David rounds off this Chapter with a roll-call of The Chairman’s associates (including yours truly – Prince (Dr.) Richard Oma Ahonaruogho SAN), partners and other professional and para-legal staff of G. M. Ibru & Co. over the years. In other words, the ‘back-room staff’ and others who helped him to attain and sustain his position atop the commanding heights of industry and legal practice. Permit me to mention in particular, Mr. Eddie A. Chukwura, who signed the letters of invitation for this event but who joined the Saints Triumphant on the 18th day of January, 2022. May his soul rest in peace, Amen.

Quoting an anonymous dictum that “Talk is only cheap until you hire a lawyer”, Chapter Three discusses “the Brief” or a client’s instruction to a Counsel in respect of which he/she desires that the latter proffer a solution. The flip side – with the same meaning – is the summary of those instructions prepared by Counsel either for articulation in Court (in the case of litigation) or otherwise. In either sense, as David eloquently argues in this Chapter, The Chairman was (and still is) uniquely positioned to deliver desired solutions and outcomes to clients while achieving the expected returns in the process.

The Chapter includes specific instances of this in the form of real cases and anecdotes which are better appreciated when read in the book. Suffice it to say that David’s exposé here is broad and deep, as it also takes in Bureaucracy and the Public Client, Criminal Prosecution and Holding Watching Briefs, Cross-border Legal Practice, Fee Regimes and emerging Challenges in Nigerian Commercial Legal Practice in areas like Trade Secrets/Intellectual Property, Advertising/Marketing, Data Protection/Privacy, Climate Change/Incidental New Normal, Labour Practices and the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Criminal Liability.

The title of Chapter Four, ‘The Family Lawyer and the Family Law Firm’ is self-explanatory. It explores the intricate relationship between G. M. Ibru & Co., and its links to the commercial business ventures of the siblings of its Principal Partner, in areas as diverse as aviation (Aero Contractors), banking (the erstwhile Oceanic Bank), Beverages (Superbru/Skol Beer), Education (Ibru College/Michael and Gloria Ibru University), Agriculture (Agbara Farms, Superbru Ewu Farms and Aden Rivers Estate), Fishing (Ibru Sea Foods, Marin Harvest Ltd), Automobiles (Rutam Motors, Trinity Motors, Emene Motors, Benin Motors and Kaduna Motors), Engineering and Construction Services (Complant Engineering, Ace Jomona), and Horticulture (the Flower Shop).

Others are Fire Safety Consultancy (Febrisa Ltd), Real Estate (Atlantic Estate Ltd.), Oil and Gas (Ibafon Oil, Elf Oil Marketing, Comi Nig., Spibat Petroleum, Nigerian Marine and Trading Co. and Queens Petroleum), Printing (Express Printing and Packaging Co.), Saw-milling (Nigerian Hardwoods Ltd), Shipping (Emsee Shipping Line, Bluewater Marine), Trading (Laibru, Delta Freeze), Road Haulage (A. J. Karoumi), Electronics (Zabadne & Co.), Insurance (Minet Nig. Ltd.) Newspaper Publishing (The Guardian), Finance (Rutam Finance), Leisure (Rutam Travels) and many others too numerous to mention. As David dutifully reports in this Chapteboothe Chairman’s involvement transcended the profit-motive, as it extended to encouraging alternative dispute resolution of the inevitable family dispute which sometimes assumed alarming and unbecoming dimensions. Thankfully, he assures us, that commitment remains strong and unwavering.

The book’s focus in Chapter Five is Commercial Law administration as it impacts Corporate Nigeria. It starts with a discourse on the historical context of the subject, including its educational sub-text, attempts at reforming it through the introduction of certain structures, like the erstwhile Federal Revenue Court (now the Federal High Court (FHC), the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST), the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) and Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, such as the Lagos Multi-Door Court House (LMDC), as well as various Executive Orders aimed at improving the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, (the latter of which the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, is rightfully given credit).

The Chapter then explores what it calls ‘Ground-breaking Corporate and Commercial Legislations’, such as the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the Petroleum Industry Act and the Finance Act. It, then, reviews what it calls the Small Cult of External Corporate Client’, Public and Individual Clients, Hotel/Hospital Briefs, the Firm’s Foreign Partners and Clients, the Retainership Contract Era, after which it reminisces on its litigation experiences. Reviewing the benefits of Corporate/Commercial Legal Practice, the author opines in this Chapter that this area of practice is more lucrative than litigation. This, in his view, accounts for the increasing preference for arbitration and ADR over litigation. The Chapter concludes with a list of cases handled by the Chairman’s Chambers, which the author believes have enriched our jurisprudence.

Our subject’s widely-acknowledged status as “the Doyen of the Hospital Industry” is the subject matter of Chapter Six. The author takes us through the Chairman’s achievements in this regard – including Ikeja Hotel Plc, the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, the Federal Palace Hotel, Ughelli Garden Hotel, Maiduguri International Hotel, Metropolitan Hotel Calabar, Confluence Beach Hotel, Lokoja, Mobile Guest House/Resort, Eket, Peninsular Resort Investment and many others.

The Chairman’s transition from the courtroom to the boardroom is the subject of Chapter Seven. Apart from sitting on the boards of the aforesaid hotel and hospitality outfits, the Chairman was instrumental, according to the author in this Chapter, of birthing the erstwhile Triumph Merchant Bank, as well as the International Business and Trading Group (IBTC), George Cohen Limited, Guy Saries Ltd., A. Savoia Eng. Co. Ltd. AVI Services Ltd/Luxury Car Hire Business, HML Properties Ltd., Charles Hampton & Co. Ltd., Niger-Delta Exploration & Production Ltd., HML Oil & Gas Ltd., G. E. I. Ventures Ltd., Minet Nig. Ltd., Highland Motors Ltd., Books and Library Services Ltd., Universal Building Society Ltd., Agrifin Nig. Ltd., some Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) the Centre of Commerce of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NACCIMA), the nascent Ikeja Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA).

The leading roles played by the Chairman in the corporate world are further narrated in this Chapter as extending to his proposal for alumni of his Chambers to form a loose partnership as well as his promotion of cluster financing as a way of spreading investment risk. The Chairman’s effectiveness with these initiatives prompted the author to cite his election in 1997 as the 15th President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange – a logical progression from his position, a decade earlier, as the head of the Lagos Branch of the Exchange. The Chairman’s continued active engagement with the Exchange, according to David in this Chapter, enabled it to grow by leaps and bounds to the extent that it is presently the leading integrated market infrastructure in Africa.

Other milestones achieved by rhe Chairman (along with others, of course) in this regard are the Reconstituted Investors Protection Fund (2012), the enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 and the Investment and Securities Act 2007. The Chairman has, from the onset, been a registered Service Provider of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This Chapter restates the well-known fact that the Chairman is an apostle of privatization. This, according to the author, has manifested in the ongoing privatization of Tafawa Balewa Square. The Chapter concludes with the observation that the Chairman’s belief that business ought to be divorced from politics, informs his aversion for the latter. Accordingly, beyond his appointment by President Obasanjo to head the Presidential Sub-Committee on Private Investment in the Tourism industry, he has shied away from any form of politicking.

Chapter Eight reviews what it calls “the Bar Man and the Bartender” which begins with a brief history of the legal profession in Nigeria and its umbrella body – the Nigerian Bar Association – which almost died in 1992 but for the spirited efforts of its elders, with yours truly (Prince (Dr.) Richard Oma Ahonaruogho SAN), getting a honourable mention in that regard. The Chapter observes that, happily since then, the NBA has grown from strength to strength, leading to the emergence of a Section on Business Law (SBL) as well as another on Legal Practice, with a third on Public Interest and Development Law. The Chapter recalls the robust contribution of the Chairman’s Chambers to the development of the law of defamation as well as those of injurious falsehood and negligent

mis-statement vide the cases of CAPITAL MEDIA vs. GNL and CHIME vs. EZEA & GNL.

These engagements, in the author’s opinion, have earned G. M. Ibru & Co. a deserved reputation as a leading media law firm. The Chapter notes the firm’s strong tradition of mentoring and nurturing lawyers by sponsoring the attendance of its leading lights to conferences of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and International Bar Association (IBA), amongst others. The Chapter concludes with the observation that the Chairman’s Chambers has been supporting series of events of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja Branch, particularly fund-raising as well as the sponsorship of the J.I.C. Taylor Memorial Lecture Series.

Chapter Nine discusses the impact which the Chairman has had on a diverse range of business, professional and corporate forums, firms and platforms locally, regionally and globally. In a veritable Who is Who, it includes the African Business Round-table, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), Business Group (both of whose local and West African Regional hubs, the Chairman led, virtually from inception); the World Economic Forum, African Capacity Building Foundation, Forum Afrique Expansion, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, the US Corporate Council on Africa, the Canada Council for Africa and the US Development Finance Corporation.

Beyond these, the Chapter notes that the Chairman also wears a variety of other caps, such as being the first Special Business Envoy and Representative of the Baltic State of Lithuania and Leadership of the Nigerian Russian Business Council, the Nigeria Hellenic (Greek) Chamber of Commerce as well as the Ethiopian-Nigerian Business Association. The author then highlights the potential of some local and global business forums in terms of value-addition and wealth creation for the business lawyer. These include the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the African Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). In the author’s opinion, the Chairman’s success in leveraging his commercial law skills with these organizations and institutions is self-evident and enough to encourage others to follow suit.

The last Chapter rightly focuses on the bottom-line of every business enterprise – and, indeed, the daily exertions of every human being (increasingly including, sadly, under-age children) – paying bills, which the author couches as “Poverty Eradication, Wealth Creation and Mentoring”. This pursuit, the author notes, abides in the Chairman till today, notwithstanding his advanced years. The author posits that those goals are gaining urgency for lawyers with technological advances which have made artificial intelligence – in particular – a real threat to their income-generating capacities. The Chairman initiatives in this regard are copiously outlined in this Chapter, including academic recognition in the form of Honourary Doctorates and other awards by Caleb University, Joseph Ayo Babalola University and the University of Lagos.

The Chairman’s legendary record in mentorship is well-recorded in this Chapter, including his strict observance, for decades, of the Pareto Principle of expending 80% of his personal income on others, such as his junior colleagues, associates, interns, employees, and dependents. As the author reminds us here, such philanthropy includes the G. M. Ibru & Co. Law Seminar Series on Wills, Trusts, Real Estate, Settlements, Secured Credit, Defamation, Hospitality/Tourism and Agricultural Financing.

In keeping faith with the Biblical injunction of giving to God what is rightfully His (and, likewise unto Caesar), the author writes in this Chapter that The Chairman’s deep Christian faith has been the guiding light and prime motivation for all his undertakings and interactions with men over the years. Indeed, this cannot but be so, given his background as the son of a missionary. No less significant, the author notes here, is the Chairman’s conviction of the imperative of passing on the torch of trail-blazing success anchored on world-class entrepreneurship to the next generation of Ibrus – which the author calls ‘The Ibru Project and the Ibru Philosophy’. Indeed, the Chairman’s has already inspired his children, nephews and nieces with his virtues.

Conclusion

As indicated at the onset, this is but a snapshot of what is really an encyclopedic treatise put together by Mr. Fayemi. So deep, wide, nuanced and multi-layered is its subject that it is really best appreciated by reading the entire book – from cover-to-cover. That is precisely what I urge you to do, as it is an indispensable addition to the library of a diverse array of professionals: the practising barrister, the business/corporate lawyer, the budding entrepreneur, the venture capitalist, the hotel/hospitality industrialist, the real estate practitioner and others. I believe it is not an exaggeration to posit that there is nothing that can be said about Mr. Goodie Minabo Ibru, OON, Hon. DSc, that David has not said in this book. And, he does so masterfully and with a lot of sensitivity – but, at the same time, objectivity. This is important, because it enhances the book’s credibility. Yes, it is a biography – even a hagiography of sorts, as indicated in the title of this review. But, it is more: it is also a wide-ranging exposé of the evolution of Nigeria’s corporate, business, legal, capital, hotel/hospitality industries such as dared before by few – if any – writers. For that, David deserves our encomiums and congratulations – as well as the gratitude of his ‘muse’, Mr. Goodie Minabo Ibru, OON, Hon. DSc.

Prince (Dr.) Richard Oma Ahonaruogho, SAN.
31st January, 2022