Jacob C.K. Wood

Hu Jieguo (born 1948 whose English name is Jacob Wood) is a Nigerian Chinese chief, businessman and president of the Nigeria Chinese Chamber of Commerce,

Early years Hu Jieguo was born in 1948 and grew up with his mother and siblings in Shanghai. In 1962, he was among the first batch of workers, peasants and soldiers who entered college during the latter part of the Cultural Revolution as he joined Shanghai Jingyuan Middle School. He later graduated in 1972 as an English major and was a teacher at Shanghai Nanhai Middle School for 7 years.

Hu Jieguo's father, Hu Pieyu, had left for Hong Kong which at that time was a British colony to start a textile business. In the 1960s however, due to the economic recession in Hong Kong, he went to Nigeria and has co-opened the largest local textile processing factory in Nigeria. He gained a good reputation in the local area including befriending politicians like Olusegun Obasanjo, who later became president of Nigeria. Hu Pieyu hoped that his son would succeed him, but Hu Jieguo himself was not willing. It was not until 1978 that Feng Yujiu, the then Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, advised Hu Jieguo to travel to Nigeria to reunite with his father.

Hu Jieguo worked in a Shangri-La restaurant in Lagos, and soon made it to manager. He then left to study hotel management in Canada. Upon his return to Lagos, he invested $8 million to build the Golden Gate Restaurant and Hotel in 1997.

In business With his investment in Golden Gate Restaurants and Hotels, Hu expanded the family's network and strengthened the ties between Chinese and Nigerian companies and politicians.

Since 1998, Hu has helped Chinese companies invest in Nigeria.

He has additionally worked with Chinese provinces like Shandong to organise commodity fairs, and open industrial estates in Nigeria, thus attracting private Chinese companies.

Hu Jieguo had a great influence on Nigeria's politics and has made many economic contributions. In addition, he can communicate with people proficiently in Hausa.

Hu Jieguo currently has an armed guard of nearly a hundred people specially approved by relevant Nigerian departments and under his full command.

Other works In July 2004, the President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Hu Jieguo as presidential adviser, responsible for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and also promote economic and trade exchanges between China and Nigeria. In April 2005, Hu Jieguo accompanied the President of Nigeria on his visit to China. In November 2011, Hu Jieguo was one of the recipients of Nigeria's 2010-2011 "National Honor Award".

During the 2015 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, Hu Jieguo temporarily closed his newly opened four-star hotel for safety concerns. The President of Liberia requested assistance from China, with China sending reinforcements and medical teams but the team needed accommodation and the capital of Liberia, Monrovia was almost empty and it was difficult to purchase items. On receiving the news, Hu Jieguo, who was in Canada, travelled to Liberia and personally purchased food items for the Chinese medical team. the president of the Nigeria-China Friendship Association and the chairman of the West African Unified Business News.