Alex Ibru
| Alex Ibru | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Internal Affairs | |
|
In office 1993–1995 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 March 1945 Agbhara-Otor, Delta State |
| Died |
20 November 2011 (aged 66) |
20 November 2011 (aged 66)
Nigeria
Alex Ibru (1 March 1945 – 20 November 2011) was a Nigerian businessman, founder and publisher of The Guardian newspaper, who was Minister of Internal Affairs from 1993 to 1995 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
Alex Ibru was a son of Chief Janet Omotogor Ibru and brother of Chief Michael Ibru, founder of the Ibru Organization. Ibru was born on 1 March 1945 in Agbhara-Otor, in today's Delta State. He attended the Yaba Methodist Primary School (1951–1957), Ibadan Grammar School (1958–1960), Igbobi College, Lagos (1960–1963) and Trent Polytechnic in the United Kingdom (1967–1970), where he studied Business Economics.
Alex Ibru was appointed chairman of Rutam Motors. In 1983 he met with newspapermen Stanley Mecebuh of Daily Times of Nigeria, Dele Cole also formerly of that paper and Segun Osoba, formerly of Nigerian Herald. With 55% funding from the Ibrus, they launched The Guardian in 1983, with Alex Ibru as chairman.
The Guardian had various pro-left academics on its board, with a clear bias towards Obafemi Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria, and the first editor Lade Bonuola was held to stringly support the UPN. On the other hand, Ibru was from a millionaire business family and Stanley Macebuh was right wing in his views, so the paper tried to maintain a balance. The stated goals of the paper were to provide an independent and balanced view. The success of The Guardian made it clear that there was an appetite for high quality journalism in Nigeria, and it was followed by news magazines such as Newswatch. The military regime did not appreciate the paper's independence, and it was persecuted under military ruler General Muhammadu Buhari (January 1984 – August 1985).
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