Like a lot of Anambrarians, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah started with nothing, but, from an early age, he was never afraid of taking on the odds.

Through hard work, perseverance, faith in God, and belief in himself, he became one of the most successful businessmen in Nigeria. It’s an opportunity he wants to make possible for every young Anambrarian.

Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah was born September 3, 1971 to the humble, working class family of Mr. & Mrs. Alphonsus Ubah of Umuanuka in Otolo, Nnewi. Being born to parents who were both teachers, Ifeanyi and his siblings had very humble beginnings. They endured material deprivations, which the children of teachers suffered and still do.

His parents provided for their family’s needs with their meager salaries and a fervent trust in God. They inculcated in him the virtues of deep faith in God, honesty, hard work, leadership, and innovativeness.

His father distributed what little he made for the education of his children and other relations. While attending OMGS in Nnewi, Ifeanyi saw his father struggle and, as the first son, chose to take on responsibilities beyond his years in order to lessen the burden on his father and help provide for the Ubah family, made up of three older sisters and three younger ones.

When he communicated this decision to his parents and siblings, this was the first time he ever saw his father cry, expressing his frustration that he as a teacher was unable to fund the education of all his children by himself, and his concern about the risk of an uncertain future for his son. Ifeanyi demonstrated courage and assured his father that he would make him proud, and that not only would he eventually shoulder the responsibility for the entire family’s upkeep, he would pursue his education and develop himself intellectually.

In honouring this promise, and reflecting his tireless pursuit of excellence, he has continued his quest for knowledge and attended several local and international courses and seminars in leadership and business management. As a result of his creative leadership, his economic ideas, and his entrepreneurial ingenuity, he was conferred with an Honourary Doctorate of Management Technology (DMT) by the Federal University of Technology Owerri, in Imo State and an Honourary Doctorate of Philosophy in Critical and Creative Thinking from Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA. He is in the process of completing the prestigious Owner/President Management Program at Harvard University, Boston, USA.

A look at his early years reveals how Ifeanyi rose swiftly from apprenticeship at the age of 16 to running a very successful regional business at the age of 18. He travelled to Ghana and throughout Africa to expand his business and increase trade for Nigeria. By the age of 19, he made his first million naira.

He emerged, quickly, as a significant player in the tyre export trade from Nigeria to Ghana. He was among the biggest suppliers of tyres to Ghana traders such as Kingsman Enterprises.

From Ghana, he expanded his business in Nigerian trade into Liberia and Sierra Leone. Unfortunately, the war that began in Liberia affected his business and he returned to Lagos. He then expanded his business, which now included the supply of auto parts to the Congo (DRC). His leadership qualities led him to become the president of the Nigerian community in the DRC at a young age. He took responsibility for catering for his business and for the welfare of all the Nigerians in the DRC, including taking responsibility for feeding thousands of Nigerian refugees who fled from Congo Brazzaville.

His company continued to grow, becoming a major importer of automotive spare parts in the DRC. He also attended international trade shows such as Automotive Industrial Week in Las Vegas, USA and Automechanika in Messe Frankfurt, Germany. He extended his business activities into England, Belgium, South Africa, Dubai and other parts of the world.

He did business with large companies in South Africa, including: AE, Payen, Kolben Co., and the AngloAmerican Industrial Corporation.

In Belgium and London he did business with companies including Banque Belgolaise (Brussels) and AE Automotive Parts (Leeds, UK).

Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, who started with nothing, had built a business empire beyond his dreams, and was now expanding into the field of oil and gas.

He established Capital Oil SPRL in the DRC, through which he imported oil and gas from Ibeto Petrochemical Nigeria and supplied the biggest transporters and industrial establishments as well as governmental agencies such as the national railway.

In South Africa, he did business with Chevron Oronite and Elit South African Pty Limited.

With the help of his mentor, Cletus Ibeto, who supported his business and further tutored him on the oil and gas climate in Nigeria, he invested his growing resources from his successful business enterprises to expand his operations in Nigeria, creating Capital Oil & Gas Industries Ltd. and thousands of jobs.

The company was founded in 2001, and by 2003/2004 it had extended into haulage, transportation and petroleum products retail. One by one, he built three of the largest oil and gas depots in all of Nigeria and acquired a fourth. By 2011, Capital Oil Group’s depot facility was the largest in Nigeria, with a combined capacity to berth 3-6 vessels simultaneously and 32 loading arms. The group today accounts for about 30% of daily petroleum products distribution in Nigeria, employs a work- force of over 3,000, and has caused the creation an additional 1,000 related jobs.

He led his company to own the largest fleet of marine vessels, barges and tug boats in Nigeria, including a large fleet of oil tankers.

In order to decongest truck tankers from Lagos roads, Ifeanyi Ubah built a truck park capable of holding 1,100 trucks simultaneously.

In his drive to lower fuel prices for Nigerians, he has acquired land to build the first private refinery in Lagos and has made a presentation to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and is currently awaiting approval.

Today, Ubah’s core business is oil and gas trading, port and harbour investment in the African continent. He also invested in property and real estate development, telecommunication, commodities importation, financial institutions, and hospitals.

He sits on the board of several companies, including:

Knoll & Hachfer Engineering Co Ltd
Chevron Oronite & Chemical Co Ltd
Hero Communications Ltd

First Nigeria Independent Oil Co Ltd
Commodity Giants Nigeria Limited
Capital Group Congo S.a.rl. in the Congo DR
Oil Force Nigeria Limited

American Hospital Ltd

Ubah led the building of strategic regional reserve depots within the geopolitical zones of Nigeria: Suleja in Niger State, Funtua in Katsina State, Enugu State, Warri and Koko in Delta State. These developments have created thousands of jobs for Nigerians, mostly youths.

He believes that “wealth and job creation is an art and empowerment is an obligation.”

He was profiled by the Oxford Brooks Magazine as one of the “Forty under Forty 2009”, a list of the top forty Nigerian business leaders under the age of forty.

He remains faithful to his friends of early days and they also form part of his strength today. He appreciates friends, but has no god-father. Instead, he has Father God, the Almighty!

That is why Ifeanyi is fondly called “Ebube Chukwu uzo” meaning “Placing God First”.

Ifeanyi is also a philanthropist. Driven by a desire to give back to society, he established the Ifeanyi Ubah Foundation, which gives students free university education, drills boreholes for communities, installs electricity transformers, repairs and constructs roads, provides free fuel to the popular “Okada” riders and bus drivers every Monday in all his filling stations.

He is building an ICT Centre for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and has built and donated a student hostel at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. He has built and fully equipped with state-of-the-art tech a 160 seating capacity ICT centre for the Nigerian Defense Academy, Kaduna.

He is also building a 3,000 seat Catholic Cathedral for the Nnewi Diocese. He was a lead donor in refurbishing St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Umuanuka Otolo, Nnewi, his home church, and has generously donated N60 million for the acquisition of the Bishop’s Court for the Anglican Diocese of Awka. He has also materially sup- ported bishops and other clergymen of various religious denominations across Anambra State.

He has distributed kerosene to all the regions of Nigeria - including areas in turmoil – in order to alleviate the plight of the poor masses, who would have no access to these products otherwise.

A family man, Ifeanyi Ubah is married to Uchenna Ubah, a graduate of Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira.

He notes that their marriage “was the beginning of God’s manifestation in my life, by blessing me with a jewel of inestimable value: my wife, the mother of my five children – a girl and four boys.”

Having raised a beautiful family and built a successful worldwide business, he now wants to ensure that every Anambrarian has the same opportunity he had to succeed and provide the next generation of Anambrarians with education, jobs and a brighter future.
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