A former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife popularly known as Okwadike, is dead.
According to a statement from the family signed by Chief Rob Ezeife, the former governor died in Abuja at about 6pm on Thursday after battling an undisclosed illness.
Ezeife hails from Igbo-Ukwu in Aguata Council Area of the state.
This is coming barely three weeks after the burial of his co-former governor of the state, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju on November 23rd.
The statement from the family read thus; “On behalf of the Ezeife Dynasty of Igbo-Ukwu, I wish to announce the promotion to glory of our most distinguished son, Okwadike, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, CON, a former Federal Permanent Secretary, the first Executive Governor of Anambra State, a former Political Adviser to the President and former Presidential Aspirant.”
“This sad event took place yesterday at 6pm at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja. More details about the deceased and the arrangements for his State Burial will be announced later.”
Ezeife was born at Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra State on 20 November 1939. 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 masters and then Ph.D degree in 1972.
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.
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.
He transferred Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Federal Polytechnic, Oko to the federal government, which helped ensure that they survived in the ensuing military regime.
During the Nigerian Fourth Republic Ezeife, who describes himself as a social democrat, was appointed presidential Adviser on Political Matters to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He was appointed a member of the board of the Center for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists.
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.
In January 2010, he was among thousands who demonstrated in Awka, calling for credible and violence-free governorship elections on February In April 2010.
A strong advocate of equity and fairness, Ezeife has been at the forefront of the clamour for Constitutional Conference to address the marginalization cries of various regions in Nigeria, especially the Southeast region.
