AMBASSADOR Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez‘ name might not ring a bell to the younger generation but when he was still active on social radar, he was considered one of the richest men in Africa.
Fernandez died on September 1, 2015, in Belgium, after battling an illness for months. He was buried at Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels on September 18, 2015, though some family members wished he was buried in Nigeria. According to them, it was the wish of the billionaire.
Born on August 12, 1929, the late chief began his life as a diplomat in 1966 in the present-day Benin Republic. He served as an advisor to the Angolan Government on Economic matters and he was later appointed as a Deputy Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations in 1984.
However, it was said that Fernandez made a major part of his wealth from petroleum. He had an oil company known as Petro Inett, which had a 50% share with South African-based Energy Africa Limited.
He was a popular figure among women but Princess Ibilola Lipede of Egbaland was his first wife. Their daughter Olateju Phillips worked as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Lagos State, and married an engineer Lanre Phillips.