Ebulue the Man

Born March 13, 1934, Ozoekwe Udeze grew up in Umudioka community, Neni, Anambra state.  Surrounded by family, he learned of the traditions of his people: greetings, proverbs, work, traditional marks, and more. His father who was an Nwadioka, an itinerant traditional herbalist and artist, travelled to several communities, spreading the traditional art of Igbo people through Igbu Ichi, traditional marks.

As a teenager, Ozoekwe had few opportunities and struggled to pay his way through primary education. However, he could not continue as a result of lack of funding. In 1953, he started learning business  as an apprentice with an Uncle, even though he also had a side business selling kerosene.  As a result of his challenges growing up without the needed financial support for his education, he has always supported indigent and intelligent students through scholarships.

In 1960, he started working with Total Nigeria.  In 1963, he registered Okacha Nigeria Enterprises, and built the first petroleum company in Neni: Okacha Petroleum. It would later spread to different parts of the country.

A lover of culture, in 2005, he became a titled chief and took on the name Eyisi Ebulue II, after his father, the first Eyisi Ebulue. Since then, he has lived a life committed to the traditional culture of his people, participating in festivals and celebrations.

As a lover of Igbo language and culture, he has always been worried about the gradual erosion of cultural values, hence his support for Igbo Language Debates and Writing Competition among Secondary Schools in Anambra state. Read more on the man in the book “Ebulue” .

Daily, Ebuluo defies old age as he continues to live each day for other people. The foundation is to support a legacy that he started building a long time ago, one festival at a time, one widow at a time, one schoolchild at a time. The Eyisi Ebuluo Foundation is an extension of the man, Eyisi Ebuluo, a platform aimed at reaching more people, touching more lives beyond Anambra state.