Chief Alfred Rewane (August 24, 1916 – October 6, 1995) was a Nigerian businessman. He was murdered on October 6, 1995 at his residence in

Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, cl ...

, Lagos. He was a financier of NADECO and was a close associate of

Obafemi Awolowo Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first Premier of the Western region of Nigeria. He was known as one of the key figure towards Nigeria's independence movement from 1957 ...

Life

Rewane's full name at birth was Ogbeyiwa Erewarone, he was born in Warri to the family of Jemide Erewarone. His father was a trader who was based in

Agbor Agbor is the most populous town of approximately 367,000 among the Ika people, in Delta State, Nigeria. It is located in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, in South-south geo-political zone of Nigeria, West Africa. Agbor is the he ...

, when his father was away from Warri, Rewane stayed with his uncle who was religious at the time and it was he who gave Rewane the first name Alfred. He was educated at the African School and then the Government School, both in Warri. Though he was admitted to Dennis Memorial Grammar School for secondary school education, Rewane did not proceed further in his education. He started his career as a manager trainee with UAC and became the beach master, Lagos Customs Wharf for the firm. In the 1940s he left UAC and focused on importing goods, especially cow bones and black pepper and then in the 1950s, he was also into the timber trade and he owned the Rex club in Yaba, Lagos where

Bobby Benson Bernard Olabinjo "Bobby" Benson (11 April 1922 – 14 May 1983) was an entertainer and musician who had considerable influence on the Nigerian music scene, introducing big band and Caribbean idioms to the Highlife style of popular West African m ...

was a regular musician. During the pre-independence era in Nigeria, Rewane was affiliated with the Action Group, he became the chairman of the Western Region Development Company which was controlled by the Action Group led regional government. In the 1970s, Rewane promoted a series of businesses in Sapele partnership with the

Seaboard Corporation Seaboard Corporation is a diverse multinational agribusiness and transportation conglomerate with integrated operations in several industries. In the United States, the company mainly engages in pork production and processing and ocean transpo ...

of the United States. The companies included Life Flour mills, West African Shrimps and Top Feeds. In the 1990s, Rewane's residence in Lagos was the venue of political meetings that led to the formation of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). He was known as a major financier of the group which was vocal in its opposition to the military regime of

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

. The Nigerian police arrested 7 persons in connection with his murder but 5 of the suspects died while in detention, the remaining two were freed based on weak evidence from the prosecution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rewane, Alfred 1916 births 1995 deaths People murdered in Lagos 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople People from Warri 1995 murders in Nigeria Nigerian murder victims People from colonial Nigeria Unsolved murders in Nigeria Founders of Nigerian schools and colleges Action Group (Nigeria) politicians