By Dr Ojiaku Kalu
In 1979, Nigeria as a country had the rare privilege of installing a team of pious duo as her Executive President and Vice President respectively. The president at the time, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, had been an accomplished teacher before venturing into politics. For his Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, a world-acclaimed architect with untold testimonials in his quiver-both in academic qualification and material acquisition, the lot fell. Plus he was one of the scions of the nation’s long-running democratic monarchies and its undisputed crown prince in hopeful succession of his then ruling uncle.
Would Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme have made a better Eze (King in Igbo) than being the Vice President of Nigeria? I wonder. I just wonder. For Just thinking of that amounts to one deliberately brewing unending nationwide controversy. Or isn’t it? But there’s not been the slightest doubt in the mind of his watchers (near and far,) that the ‘Ide of Aguata’ would indeed have been as good an Eze as he was Nigeria’s number two citizen, and even better! For Alex is synonymous with streak wins!
At the death of his uncle who was then the king, the kingmakers in one of their very infrequent, once-in-a-life-time gathering had adhered to the stool’s monarchical succession dictates by inviting Dr. Alex Ekwueme already the ‘Ide’, a highly revered title for the crown prince and eldest son in the family, to come assume the throne. Alex Ekwueme would however, explain to the solemn conclave what a waste of rare human capital it would be for him to become their king.
In his logical submission, he was doing a superb job of representing them at both national and international levels and so, would be striping them politically naked should he do their bidding. Why not the next in line, Laz Nnanyelu, rather become the next king? Besides, he by his sterling professional training and doings, was a residue of arts and culture.
And so the world-renowned musician became crowned (the) king of his ancient Oko Kingdom – thereby making a smooth and impressive transition from gown to crown. But whether the giant oak throne in big brother Alex’s sitting room is a compensatory honour for his royal sacrifice; this writer did not ask and was not told. What is intriguing however is that throughout our two-day visit, the older Ekwueme never sat on that throne although right in his own home. The throne is meant exclusively for the younger brother, Igwe Laz Ekwueme whenever he visits!
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Vanguard Newspaper Special Reports Aug 22, 2009
by Jide Ajani, Deputy Editor
*Corruption: Says Buhari lied against me
*I never advocated regional armies
For Chief Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (Ide), Second Republic vice president of Nigeria, the definition of contentment can never be subjective. His residence in Enugu, off Rangers Avenue says it all – a sparsely furnished sitting room, a walkway that belies the status of a former number two citizen in a country where opulence is second nature to public office holders, and a perimeter wall that is as nondescript as can ever be imagined for the residence of the first executive vice president of Nigeria.
But Ekwueme, soft-spoken, conveys the persona of a man at ease with himself. Married to three wives, with children to boot, Chief Ekwueme has some fire in him. Penultimate Wednesday, at his residence in Enugu, Sunday Vanguard engaged the man in what he was to admit as ‘the first time I have spoken like this to anyone about my life, Nigeria and its politics.’ He was right. After some four hours – at a point his voice started fading – Ekwueme made some startling revelations like never before.
Fact list: His choice as running mate to Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari in 1979; the N1 million he donated to the party, contrary to the rumour that he paid N2 million to purchase the ticket; how he was the only member of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, between 1979 and 1983 who could not award contracts, contrary to the press statement credited to General Muhammadu Buhari who claimed that all the ills of the Second Republic were perpetrated by Ekwueme; what he thought would happen to him on December 31, 1983, when the military struck; the formation of G-34 and the type of risks its leaders took in confronting then General Sani Abacha; what he actually proposed at the Constitutional Conference of 1994 contrary to the allegation that he advocated the formation of regional armies.
That was not all. In the second part which would be published next week, Ekwueme exposes the lie that was Olusegun Obasanjo’s supposed hand of fellowship after the Jos, 1999 Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; why he, Ekwueme, averted a catastrophe by not following due process which could have thrown the Abdulsalami Abubakar Transition programme into a convulsion; why the PDP has become what it has become and how President Umar Musa Yar’Adua may be able to save the day; the defections by state governors into the PDP and a very introspective perspective on the issue; corruption in Nigeria; the intrigues which threw up Senator Chuba Okadigbo as Senate president and his life as a father, a husband and a politician.
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Daily Independent – Saturday, August 23, 2008
Abacha, Abdulsalami distorted Nigerian Constitution – Ekwueme
Engaging Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme in an interview is like going through chapters of a well-edited encyclopaedia of contemporary Nigerian politics. The former vice president of Nigeria has remained a factor in all major political events in Nigeria for the past 30 years, especially on the side of democracy and civilian governance.
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