By Ernest Omoarelojie
That the Murray-Bruce family is one of a kind is certainly no news. The reason, in the main, stems from the fact that there is hardly any other family whose activities revolve around entertainment the same way theirs does. Perhaps, more significantly, no one else in the family represents this fact more than the iconic Ben, who, putting it mildly, made the country, Africa’s Mecca of music and beauty pageants.
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| • Ben Murray-Bruce |
Second of the 10 Murray-Bruce siblings, Ben, arguably the most visible, can be described as a genius given the manner he transformed a mini dream into a multi-billion business conglomerate.
Murray-Bruce began his foray into entertainment with a N20,000 loan and a small space he acquired in his father’s office. Spurred on mostly by an incredible passion for the unusual, he delved into business by introducing, in the early 80s, what he aptly christened Roots, Rock and Soul. With the assistance of his big brother, Michael, the Managing Director of Domino Group, he set up Silverbird with the desire to provide all-round entertainment. Between 1980 and 1983, Silverbird organised 20 big time music festivals in Lagos, Benin , Port Harcourt and Ife. Musical groups like Shalamar and Dynasty and Evelyn King were on hand to entertain appreciative Nigerians. By that singular feat, the Bayelsa-born Ben and his brothers served notice they were bound for the top.
The country continued to make inroads into the international social circuit, thanks to Silverbird. Apart from bagging the rights to take part in Miss World, rights which Times Leisure Services lost in the 1980s. It soon instituted its own unique beauty pageant, known as the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. It was this pageant that served as the platform for Agbani Darego to contest in 2001 for the Miss World which she eventually won. Before Agbani’s victory, Bianca Onoh had also won the Miss Intercontinental pageant in 1989.
The group has also built Silerbird Galleria, which it has used to revive the dying cinema culture in Nigeria. The sprawling facility is also a one-stop shopping centre. In the last few years the group has grown significantly, taking in a television and and a radio station.
Recently, with the support of the Silverbird group, a group of Nigerians danced their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. They had danced non-stop for days to erase the old mark. The event was score tagged Danceathon.
Many Nigerians will recall that after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Ben Murray Bruce as CEO of Nigeria Television Authority. He transformed the company and made it to offer 24 hour service to Nigerians for the first time.That is not all, Ben’s Silverbird Travel is making unprecedented inroad into the tourism industry by organising classy tours across the Far East and beyond.
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