By Florence Amagiya

Chief Ben Amuta, who goes by the nickname ‘Oil Minister’ is the owner of DON MORRIS red wine. Although he was not born with a silver spoon, he has grown his brand and he is living his dream. Today, Don Morris red wine is largely consumed by many Nigerians and many outside Nigeria. Chief Ben Amuta is also a major importer of CLASSIC red wine and some other brands of wine too numerous to mention. He has investments in oil and gas sector, he has bottle water production company and other businesses.

Chief Ben Amuta was born in Port-Harcourt. He was only in primary 3 when the Nigerian Civil War broke. He and his family which included his father, mother, and a younger brother had to run for their lives, leaving behind all that they had worked for. It was not a pleasant trip as there were no vehicles around to take them to their destinations, so they trekked long distance.

The ‘Oil Minister’ was so young that the only luggage he could carry was a mat. He cannot forget in a hurry an experience he had on the road to safety. His younger brother, because of his age, was carried on the shoulder of a man who walked away with him.

It was not until they got to a point where his family decided to take a rest that they found out that the man carrying his brother had dissappeared. His father had to leave his mum and him in other people’s care for a long period of time in search of his brother who was eventually found.

Ben Amuta and his family in the process got a vehicle to their home town Umu- Dioka in Dunukosia Local Government Area in Anambra state, where they thought the war wouldn’t get to, but not too long after reaching there, they got wind that their village may be the next to be attacked. So he and his family again left the village for Onitsha, the village was eventually bombed killing some of the people that remained and maiming others.

In Onitsha, they stayed in an abandoned property. It was a 2- room apartment. While there, his other siblings were born. The owners of the property returned to reclaim one of the rooms when the war ended in 1970. They had to make-do with one room. Money became an issue as this was the end of the Civil War. His father became a carpenter and his mum, a petty trader. He was advised to learn a trade as there was no money to send him to School.

Meanwhile, Chief Ben struggled to see himself through primary school by doing odd jobs and helping his mother hook her petty sales. He paid his way through Common Entrance Examination while doing that, but could only manage up to class 3. In class 3, he was advised by his parents to drop out of school, as he was needed to help raise his younger siblings in school. In fact, the parents had to choose between him and his sister; the person that would continue schooling. They chose his sister and he dropped out of school.

Although Ben was a highly intelligent young man, he couldn’t continue schooling because of tuition fee. His sister instead went further, while he went to learn a trade. He started working with his uncle in 1978. Having much ambition, he just believed he would make it. He traveled to different places abroad using British Caledonia. With time, his uncle enabled him have his own shop. Having the desire to develop, he started attending evening schools until he left Onitsha. Today, Ben has a NECO Certificate and he is also a student of UNILAG, studying Business Administration.

Ben Amuta eventually grew his business empire until he was able to move to Lagos where he stays till date. He was nick- named the ‘Oil Minister’ because he was the first in Lagos Island to start the importation of oil lubricant for cars. His business grew to the extent that he was able to build his own house in a choice area both in Lagos and his village.

The story behind the making of Don Morris red wine

A time came in Chief Ben Amuta’s life that he needed to make more investments and decided he wanted to invest in wine. So he travelled far to be able to source for good wine, he was told that good wine are made in South Africa. So off he went to South Africa in 1997 to search for wine, but found out his contact had moved. Over time, he wanted to get himself ready and set about making a name for his wine. He noticed the popular DON SIMON wine and loved the don title and adopted it.

Later he added Morris to the ‘Don’ which is an abbreviation of some combination of names in his family. He met another contact, travelled abroad again and partnered with contacts in foreign countries like Spain and South Africa to get good wines for marketing. He launched his first table wine known as Don Morris table wine which is non- alcoholic. After the success of the table wine, he tried his hands on the red wine with better quality bottle which cannot be faked as it cannot be corked after it is uncorked.

INVESTMENTS

He is a business man whose wine bottles carry his brand name. He came up with the name of his brand, Don Morris, as a trade mark. He owns one of the largest wine shops in Lagos with branches in other states. He has multi- million naira investment in oil and gas and other businesses.

Scholarship Scheme

Chief Ben Amuta is a very religious man who is also a philanthropist. He has a successful yearly scholarship scheme for people in his community and has succeeded in sending several youths to different field of endeavours. Chief Ben has recorded more than 25 graduates from his scholarship projects from primary school level to university.