Chief (Dr.) Henry Fajemirokun (1926-1978)
Leading Nigerian Entrepreneur.
Henry Fajemirokun served as President of the Lagos, Nigerian, and West African Chambers of Commerce during his lifetime. Born in Ile Oluji, Ondo State, he was educated at St Luke’s School, Oke-Igbo (1937–1940), CMS Grammar School, Lagos (1941–1942), and Ondo Boys High School (1942–1944). After attending Ondo Boys School, he joined the Royal West African Frontier Force and served in India during World War II.
Following the war, he joined the Post and Telegraph Department as a clerk. Active in the workers’ union, he rose to become president of the department’s ex-servicemen’s union in 1948 and, in 1952, president of the Post and Telegraph’s Clerical and Workers Allied Union. In 1955, with a loan from a relative, he ventured into private business, starting in the agricultural export sector with cattle bones as his first product, then expanding to hides and skin, rubber, coffee, and shea nuts. His reliability earned him the trust of buyers who extended letters of credit to finance his business.
In 1962, he diversified into maritime services. By the 1960s, he had commenced massive cement importation from Egypt and Poland, funded by a British bank in London. In 1968, Fajemirokun was awarded the chieftaincy title of Yegbata of Ile-Oluji by the Jegun, making him a tribal aristocrat of the Yoruba people. He also ventured into commodity brokerage, and in 1969, he secured a seat on the London Stock Exchange. His company, Henry Stephens, became the first indigenous company to obtain an oil prospecting license in Nigeria. In 1971, he received another title, Asiwaju of Okeigbo.
As the chairman and largest shareholder of the Henry Stephens group of companies, Fajemirokun became a major shareholder in leading Nigerian companies. He was instrumental in the ‘indigenization’ decree of 1972, which sought to transfer economic control from foreign nationals to Nigerians. He capitalized on the nationalistic sentiments of the period, acquiring and representing major foreign operations in Nigeria. His company became the sole distributor for Xerox.
Despite being denied the acquisition of the Daily Times by the Obasanjo junta, Fajemirokun acquired stakes in Johnson Wax and Fan Milk. He established the Henry Stephens Shipping Company, which included three lines: Ile-Oluji Line, Ifewara Line, and D.F Fajemirokun Line. His company was a pioneer in the Nigerian maritime industry, being one of the first Nigerian companies to own an interest in a shipping line.
