*NKATA NDI INYOM IGBO FOUNDATION (NNIIF) MOURNS LATE OKWADIKE IGBOUKWU, DR. CHUKWUEMEKA EZEIFE.*
*OKWADIKE DID NOT SIN BY SILENCE. WE ARE PROUD OF HIM.*
The news of the sudden death of the former governor of Anambra state, Okwadike Chukwuemeka Ezeife on the 14th of December 2023 at the age of 85 saddens us greatly. This sad event comes just weeks after the burial of another former governor of Anambra state, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju and the death of erudite constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN). Ndigbo were slowly coming to terms with the death of a former international scholar and diplomat who exited while presiding over the affairs of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide as President General, the late Prof. George Obiozor.
The death of Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife brings to a sudden end the good leadership he has provided not just for Ndigbo but for Nigeria as a country. A cerebral scholar whose academic success was as exciting as it was productive, he skipped secondary school but was still able to pass his correspondence exams and got admitted into the University of Ibadan where he obtained a degree in Economics before he proceeded to Harvard University on a Rockefeller scholarship for his masters and PhD degrees.
His Pan-African patriotic spirit saw him returning to the continent where he rose to become a Permanent Secretary in the Nigerian Civil Service. Before then, he had been a school headmaster and taught at Makerere University, Uganda. He believed in the value of education. He was a teaching fellow at Harvard University and a consultant with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge Massachusetts. He served as a political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and has never relented in advising Nigerian leaders at all levels for justice, peace and progress.
He later joined politics and became the first governor of the then-newly created Anambra state in 1992, even though his tenure was truncated by military intervention in 1993. Even though they were swept out of power, he continued as a socio-political advocate not just for Ndigbo but for Nigeria as a nation he dearly loved. He became a vocal advocate for the restructuring of the country and for equity and justice that can truly define the entity called Nigeria.
He was a cultural icon in words and deeds. His chieftaincy title, Okwadike Igboukwu was a title he carried with elegance and panache. He believed in Igbo cultural ethos and values and was almost a metaphor for Igbo culture through his dressing complete with his traditional red cap, the ofo totem and traditional beads. His advocacy for peace and justice saw him at the forefront of the negotiations for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, a fight he made several trips and media appeals to former President Mohammadu Buhari to no avail.
But we at Nkata would remember the late Okwadike Igboukwu for his leadership qualities and advocacy for peace, justice and progress not just in the South East but in Nigeria. He is one man whose education and culture informed his worldviews. He believed that education should not obliterate African culture, especially his Igbo culture. He used his positions for the advancement of the human project. To us, he did his part perfectly to the best of his human abilities. We mourn him as a son, brother, uncle, husband, father and grandfather but more so as a true citizen who stood tall and did not sin by silence. His voice resonated across the nation and beyond for his progressive beliefs.
May you journey well Okwadike Igboukwu. You lived your purpose and left an impact. May your family be consoled and may we the living attempt to pick up the baton you so elegantly carried as Nwa afo Igbo.
Naa n’udo Okwadike Igboukwu.
*Adieu* .
Signed:
*Nnedinso Ogaziechi*
*National Publicity Secretary* ,
*Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo Foundation (NNIIF)*.
