Chukwuemeka Ezeife | |
---|---|
![]() Ezeife in 2023 | |
Governor of Anambra State | |
In office 2 January 1992 – 17 November 1993 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Abulu |
Succeeded by | Nwaogu Emmanuel |
Personal details | |
Born | Igbo-Ukwu, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Anambra State, Nigeria) | 20 November 1937
Died | 14 December 2023 86) Abuja, Nigeria | (aged
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
- ↑ "Nigerian States". WorldStatesmen. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- 1 2 Ademola Adeyemo (10 November 2009). "Sixteen Years After - Where Are Babangida's Civilian Governors?". ThisDay. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- 1 2 "OUR BOARD MEMBERS". Center for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Emmanuel Obe (22 January 2010). "Ezeife, others march for free Feb 6 poll in Anambra". The Punch. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ↑ Vincent Ujumadu (26 April 2010). "Ezeife's Wife's Abductors Demand High Ransom". Vanguard. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ↑ Ex-Anambra governor, Ezeife, dies at 85