Chukwuemeka Ezeife Explained

Chukwuemeka Ezeife
Office:Governor of Anambra State
Term Start:2 January 1992
Term End:17 November 1993
Predecessor:Joseph Abulu
Successor:Dabo Aliyu
Birth Date:20 November 1937
Birth Place:Igbo-Ukwu, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Anambra State, Nigeria)
Death Place:Abuja, Nigeria

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

Background

Ezeife was born in 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 earned a BSc in Economics from the University College Ibadan, and later attended Harvard University on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship, where he obtained a master's degree and then a PhD in 1972.[2]

Ezeife's career included roles as a School Headmaster, a lecturer at Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda, a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, and a Consultant with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He 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 their survival during 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]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nigerian States. WorldStatesmen. 29 April 2010.
  2. Web site: Sixteen Years After - Where Are Babangida's Civilian Governors?. ThisDay. Ademola Adeyemo. 10 November 2009. 29 April 2010.
  3. Web site: OUR BOARD MEMBERS. Center for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists. 29 April 2010.
  4. Web site: Igbo Vote: Can These Men Deliver?. Christian Ita and Pius Anakali. ThisDay. 5 August 2001. 29 April 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20041215062907/http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/08/05/20010805cov02.html. 15 December 2004.
  5. Web site: Democracy died in Nigeria with Abiola. Nwabueze Okonkwo. 16 August 2009. Daily Sun. 29 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101128131740/http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/powergame/2009/aug/16/powergame-16-08-2009-002.htm. 28 November 2010. dead.
  6. Web site: I’m finished, cries Ex-Gov Ezeife, whose house was pulled down by el-Rufai. Francis Awowle-Browne. 26 February 2006. Daily Sun. 29 April 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20070101055611/http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/powergame/2006/feb/26/powergame-2-26-2006-002.htm. 1 January 2007. dead.
  7. Web site: Ezeife, others march for free Feb 6 poll in Anambra. Emmanuel Obe. 22 January 2010. The Punch. 29 April 2010.
  8. Web site: Ezeife's Wife's Abductors Demand High Ransom. Vanguard. Vincent Ujumadu. 26 April 2010. 29 April 2010.
  9. Web site: Ex-Anambra governor, Ezeife, dies at 85 . The Punch . 28 July 2024.