A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, is dead.
The elder statesman died at 6 pm on Thursday at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, according to a statement by the family signed by Chief Rob Nwakaire Ezeife.
The statement added that more details about the deceased and the arrangements for his State Burial will be announced later.
“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 6 pm at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja. More details about the deceased and the arrangements for his State Burial will be announced later.”
Ezeife was governor of Anambra from 1992 to 1993.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EZEIFE
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.
BackgroundEzeife 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.
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.
Political careerEzeife 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 described himself as a social democrat, was appointed presidential Adviser on Political Matters to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
