Nigeria’s reclusive billionaire-diplomat, Oluwo Antonio Deinde Fernandez is dead. He was aged 79 years.
Deinde Fernandez’s death was announced in a tweet Tuesday night by Nigerian Journalist/Publisher, Dele Momodu.
“Nigeria, and indeed Africa, has just lost one of its greatest sons; Ambassador Chief Antonio Dehinde Fernandez is gone!” Momodu tweeted.
according to Wikipedia, Fernandez was born in Lagos southwestern Nigeria into the Fernandez family that originated from Brazil and the first European migrant to Lagos State.
He has been in diplomacy since 1996 and in 1982, he served as advisor to the Angolan Government on Economic matter.
He held this position for two years until his appointment as Deputy Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations in 1984.
He runs an oil company called Petro Inett which obtained a 50 percent share with South African-based Energy Africa Limited in a deal with the state oil company for exploration rights in a 4,700 km2 area of Angola’s coast in 1996.
In 1992, he was appointed as Special Adviser to the President of Mozambique on International Economic Matters, a position he held for three years.
He was formerly married to Aduke Fernandez, whom he divorced in July 2003 following a £300m divorce suit in Scotland filled on July 1, 2003 by her counsel.
He was asked by Aduke through her counsel, Charles Macnair QC, to compel Chief Fernandez to pay her a lump sum of £5m and an allowance of £75,000 monthly for three years but the case was dismissed by the court.
She died in 2013.
Chief Fernandez is the father of Princess Antoinette Oyinkansola Fernandez, from his relationship with the current Erelu Kuti of Lagos.
Chief Fernandez is the father of Abimbola Fernandez, a Nigerian model for Vivienne Westwood during Edinburgh Fashion Week.
In 2009 her face was the album cover for platinum selling artist Cobra Starship’s CD “Hot Mess”. She also modeled for the cover of the single “Good Girls Go Bad”.
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