A former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, is dead, the family has announced.
Ezeife died at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, according to a statement on Friday by Rob Ezeife, on behalf of the family.
“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, a former governor of Anambra State, a former political adviser to the (an ex-) president and former presidential aspirant,” the statement said.
The statement said details of his burial arrangements will be announced in due course.
Born on 20 November 1937, Mr Ezeife was elected governor of Anambra State on the platform of the Social Democratic Party in 1992 during Nigeria’s Third Republic.
The former governor died at the age of 86.
Late Ezeife at a glance
Mr Ezeife hailed from Igbo-Ukwu, a community in Aguata Local Government Area of the South-eastern state.
He served as governor of Anambra until November 1993 when former Nigerian military ruler, Sani Abacha, seized power at the centre.
In 1999, he was appointed a special adviser on political matters by ex-Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, at the beginning of the country’s Fourth Republic.
Ezeife did not attend secondary school, but taught himself through correspondence courses, qualifying for university admission.
He obtained a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Ibadan and his master’s degree and doctorate from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States of America in 1972.
He served as a school headmaster and later a lecturer at Makarare University College, Kampala, Uganda.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has sympathized with the Ezeife family, the people, and the government of Anambra State on the passing of Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, CON, former governor of the state.
President Tinubu extolled the towering influence of the former federal permanent secretary in Nigeria’s political landscape as well as his leadership credentials, describing his passing as a painful loss.
The President recalls the contributions the late Chief Ezeife made in the shaping of public discourse and governance in Nigeria, as well as in laying the foundation for the advancement of his dear state.
While praying for the repose of the soul of the dearly departed, the President encourages his loved ones to take solace in his indelible legacy.