Goodie was born in 1942 in Kano, Kano State, of late Pa Peter Epete Ibru and Late Mama Janet Omotogor Ibru. He obtained his primary school leaving certificate from Yaba Methodist School. After that he went to Ibadan and enrolled in Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State. He finished his secondary education in 1960 and went to the United Kingdom where he studied at Holborn college of Law, University of London and qualified in 1965 as a lawyer and was called to the Inner Temple of the English Bar in 1966. After his sojourn in the United Kingdom, he returned to Nigeria and enrolled as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1968.
In 1968 the young and impressionable Ibru came back to Nigeria to start his law practice. He formed a partnership with his friend and colleague Olaogun Badru and they both formed the Ibru, Olaogun and Co. They later split and Goodie formed another partnership with Mr. E.A. Chukwura whom he engaged as managing partner in the newly formed G.M Ibru & Co. law firm. He obtained the franchise from starwood hotels and resorts to own a Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria’s busiest commercial centre. The hotel was completed and launched in 1985.[1]
He then, through Ikeja Hotel Plc, went ahead in 1992 to acquire the Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc (TCN) owners of Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. In 2009 he invited Sun International, a South African Hotel Brand which bought shares in TCN and undertook the refurbishment of the right wing of the hotel.
Subsequently, his Ikeja Hotel plc. purchased majority shares in Capital Hotel plc. and became the chairman and owner of Abuja Sheraton hotel. He became president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1997 and held the position till 2000. In 1999 he was appointed the chairman presidential subcommittee on private investment in Tourism Industry up until 2007 and participated as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for the preparation of code of Ethics for Tourism in Nigeria.
Goodie Ibru is a consummate businessman (he serves as Chairman of Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc, and serves as Director on the boards Minet Nigeria Limited and DN Tyre & Rubber Plc), a serial entrepreneur and a fixture in the firmament of corporate Nigeria; he represents a generation of Nigerians who underline the meaning of intellect, sophistication and candour.
Goodie Ibru is a national honours awardee being awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2003 in recognition of his strides in business establishment and management. Kindly welcome a man of distinguished taste and panache, a man of boardroom savvy and prescient vision, Mr. Goodie Ibru, OON, Zik Prize winner 2014.
