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Chukwuemeka Ezeife
Chukwuemeka Ezeife
	Ezeife in 2023
Governor of Anambra State
	In office; 2 January 1992 – 17 November 1993
Preceded by	Joseph Abulu
Succeeded by	Dabo Aliyu[citation needed]
Personal details
Born	20 November 1937; Igbo-Ukwu, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Anambra State, Nigeria)
Died	14 December 2023 (aged 86); 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]

References

^ "Nigerian States". WorldStatesmen. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b Ademola Adeyemo (10 November 2009). "Sixteen Years After - Where Are Babangida's Civilian Governors?". ThisDay. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
^ ^a ^b "OUR BOARD MEMBERS". Center for Development & Empowerment of Commercial Motorcyclists. Retrieved 29 April 2010.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ 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.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ 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". The Punch. Retrieved 28 July 2024.