Okwadike Ezeife: South East , governors, leaders, and Tinubu bid Ezeife goodbye.

Okwadike Ezeife: South East governors, leaders, and Tinubu bid Ezeife goodbye.

Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, the late governor of Anambra State, was laid to rest on Saturday at his Igboukwu country residence in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

On December 14, 2023, Ezeife, who served as the state governor during the abortive Third Republic from January 2, 1992 to November 1993, passed away at the Federal Medical Center in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu referred to the late Ezeife as a “true son of the soil” who battled for Nigeria’s peace and unity at the state burial arranged in his honor. He also mentioned that Ezeife passed away at a time when Nigerians needed his development ideas.

The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, represented the President at the funeral. The President praised the deceased’s towering impact and leadership qualities in Nigeria’s political scene.

“Sadly, Ezeife passed away at a time when the nation needed his services more,” he added, noting that “his towering influence and his leadership credentials helped shape the political landscape of the country.”

The late Ezeife was lauded by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, who also mentioned that he led the sort of life he was known to preach.

“Okwadike,” as he was affectionately known throughout his lifetime, was a “man of integrity and credibility,” the speaker said.

“Ezeife lived the life he preached,” he declared. He lived it, not just preached it. Ezeife held Nigeria accountable for the law because he respected the rule of law.

Soludo pointed out that the burial was not carried out in accordance with the state’s burial regulations.

The Anambra State Government reaffirmed in February 2024 that it will uphold the 2019 burial legislation in order to rein down the excessive costs associated with funerals and burials in the state.

“I must not leave without saying this: if the ‘Okwadike’ that I knew were alive, he would not have supported most of what is being done here today,” Soludo remarked in reference to the way the funeral activities were conducted.

“This is wrong because it violates the Anambra State Burial Laws,” I commented when I first arrived and saw pamphlets produced here. I received a text from someone asking to print certain paperwork for the funeral, but I informed them that it is against the state of Anambra’s burial rules and they didn’t have permission to do so. Any documents printed for interment in Anambra are only supposed to be printed for a single day. The law is that.

“No, we won’t uphold the law in the case of the poor man’s death and ignore it in the case of the rich man’s death. The law was approved two years before I was elected governor of Anambra state, thus I did not pass it.

The state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, as well as traditional rulers, senators Ben Ndi-Obi, Victor Umeh, Chris Ngige, and Uche Ekwunife, were among the dignitaries in attendance at the occasion.