The inaugural Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has passed away at the age of 85. The news was conveyed in a statement issued by Chief Rob Nwakaire Ezeife on behalf of the Ezeife Family. According to the statement, the distinguished elder statesman, born in Igbo-Ukwu, Anambra State on November 20, 1937, breathed his last at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, on Thursday evening.
“On behalf of the Ezeife Dynasty of Igbo-Ukwu, I announce with deep sorrow the passing of our revered son, Okwadike, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, CON, the first Executive Governor of Anambra State.”
Ezeife’s life story is one of remarkable self-determination. Though he did not attend secondary school, he pursued education through correspondence courses, ultimately earning a BSc in Economics from the University College Ibadan. He furthered his studies at Harvard University on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship, obtaining both a master’s and a PhD degree in 1972. His career spanned diverse roles, including School Headmaster, lecturer at Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda, Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, and Consultant with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He entered the civil service as an Administrative Officer and climbed the ranks to become a Permanent Secretary.
The statement described Ezeife as a former Political Adviser to the President and a one-time Presidential Aspirant. The sad event occurred at 6 pm at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja. More details about the departed and arrangements for his State Burial will be provided later, as stated in the announcement.
Ezeife’s passing comes approximately twenty months after the demise of his wife and eight months after the departure of another former governor of the State, Chief Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Widely known as Okwadike Igboukwu, Dr. Ezeife served as the Governor of Anambra State from January 1992 to November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic.
Quest: Emmanuel kelvin