Chukwuemeka Ezeife

Nigerian politician (1938–2023)

Chukwuemeka Ezeife
Ezeife in 2023
Governor of Anambra State
In office
2 January 1992 – 17 November 1993
Preceded byJoseph Abulu
Succeeded byNwaogu Emmanuel[citation needed]
Personal details
Born(1937-11-20)20 November 1937
Igbo-Ukwu, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Anambra State, Nigeria)
Died14 December 2023(2023-12-14) (aged 86)
Abuja, Nigeria

Chukwuemeka Ezeife (20 November 1937 – 14 December 2023) was a Nigerian politician who was the governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from January 1992 to November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic.[1]

Background

Ezeife was born at Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra State on 20 November 1937. He did not attend secondary school, but taught himself through correspondence courses, qualifying for university admission. He gained a BSc in Economics from the University College Ibadan, then attended Harvard University on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship where he obtained a master's and then PhD degree in 1972.[2] He became a School Headmaster, a lecturer at Makarare University College, Kampala, Uganda, a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, and a Consultant with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ezeife joined the civil service as an Administrative Officer and rose to the position of Permanent Secretary.[3]

Political career

Ezeife was elected governor of Anambra State on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform, holding office from 2 January 1992 to 17 November 1993, when General Sani Abacha took power after a military coup. As governor, he was said to be more interested in planning than in addressing immediate developmental needs and achieved few tangible results.[4] He transferred Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Federal Polytechnic, Oko to the federal government, which helped ensure that they survived in the ensuing military regime.[5]

During the Nigerian Fourth Republic Ezeife, who described himself as a social democrat, was appointed presidential Adviser on Political Matters to President Olusegun Obasanjo.[2]

Later career

Ezeife was appointed a member of the board of the Centre for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists.[3] In February 2006 the Federal Capital development Authority bulldozed his house in Abuja on the grounds that the plot of land and those of adjacent houses had been acquired improperly.[6] In January 2010 he was among thousands who demonstrated in Awka calling for credible and violence-free governorship elections on 6 February.[7] In April 2010 one of Ezeife's wives, Onyedi, was kidnapped by hoodlums who had earlier killed four policemen. The kidnappers demanded a high ransom.[8]

Death

Chukwuemeka Ezeife died on 14 December 2023, at the age of 86.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Nigerian States". WorldStatesmen. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b Ademola Adeyemo (10 November 2009). "Sixteen Years After - Where Are Babangida's Civilian Governors?". ThisDay. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  3. ^ a b "OUR BOARD MEMBERS". Center for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists. Retrieved 29 April 2010.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Christian Ita and Pius Anakali (5 August 2001). "Igbo Vote: Can These Men Deliver?". ThisDay. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  5. ^ NWABUEZE OKONKWO (16 August 2009). "Democracy died in Nigeria with Abiola". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  6. ^ Francis Awowle-Browne (26 February 2006). "I'm finished, cries Ex- Gov Ezeife, whose house was pulled down by el-Rufai". Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  7. ^ Emmanuel Obe (22 January 2010). "Ezeife, others march for free Feb 6 poll in Anambra". The Punch. Retrieved 29 April 2010.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Vincent Ujumadu (26 April 2010). "Ezeife's Wife's Abductors Demand High Ransom". Vanguard. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. ^ Ex-Anambra governor, Ezeife, dies at 85
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State governors in the Third Nigerian Republic
Abia
Adamawa
Akwa Ibom
Anambra
Chukwuemeka Ezeife (SDP)
Bauchi
Benue
Borno
Cross River
Delta
Edo
Enugu
Imo
Jigawa
Kaduna
Kano
Katsina
Kebbi
Kogi
Kwara
Lagos
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