Chukwuemeka Ezeife
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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 |
| 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]
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]
