OBITUARY: Ekwueme, the accidental VP who wanted MKO’s name written in the constitution

When Alexandra Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme drew his last breath on Saturday night at a London hospital, it was not just a chapter that closed in Nigeria’s history: a library also shut down. Regarded as one of the most educated politicians Nigeria has ever produced, Ekwueme churned out political ideas that have continued to shape the debate around the country’s nationhood.

There is an irony to the timing of his passing. His daughter, Alexandria Chidi Onyemelukwe, had just lost her bid to become deputy governor of Anambra state as running mate to Oseloka Obaze on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) took his opponents to the cleaners. TheCable understands that Ekwueme was unaware of the development, having not recovered from the coma he slipped into early November. He was flown abroad in an air ambulance.

Maybe governorship is not for the family after all.

When Ekwueme received his LLB and a second PhD in Scotland in 1978, his convocation dinner was attended by a large delegation from the old Anambra state. One person after the other spoke, asking him to come home and be part of the transition to civil rule, as the ban on politics had just been lifted by the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo.

They asked him to contest for the governorship of Anambra state. He was reluctant but he gave two conditions: first, he was really exhausted from his academics and was not in a state of mind to embark on an elaborate campaign, so they would have to undertake to do it for him; second, he had not much money at the time so they would have to raise the funds. They agreed to both conditions.

Pronto, he came back to Nigeria, with the governorship primary just a few days away. But he got a breather, as it were, as it was moved by one week.

ACCIDENTAL VICE-PRESIDENT

Since he was not at home when NPN was formed, it was always going to be a tough call to get the party’s ticket. CC Onoh (father of Bianca Ojukwu) was already on ground nursing his own ambition. He was campaigning then that northern Anambra (Enugu, Abakaliki and Nsukka senatorial districts) should produce the governor, as against the south, made up of Awka and Onitsha districts. The north had 23 local governments, while the south, where Ekwueme came from, had only 15. It was a battle the man with two PhDs would not win.

But life is full of twists and turns.

“This is where God comes into the affairs of men: I lost the governorship ticket at a time when NPN was quite popular here. But shortly after that, Nnamdi Azikiwe came into the picture and it changed all the dynamics and calculations when he became the presidential candidate of the NPP (Nigerian Peoples Party)… if I had won that (NPN) guber primaries, I would have also lost the election for the office of governor,” Ekwueme would say later. Of course, Onoh lost to NPP’s Jim Nwobodo.

BIONOTES

• Born on October 21, 1932, Ekwueme started primary school at the St John’s Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King’s College, Lagos. As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the US. He one of the first Nigerians to win the award. He attended the University of Washington where he earned bachelor’s degree in architecture and city planning and a master’s degree in urban planning. He also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from the University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School.

Meanwhile, Shehu Shagari, who had just been nominated the presidential candidate of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) for the 1979 election, was on a vote mobilisation tour of the east. At Enugu, he asked to meet NPN leaders from Imo and Anambra states (today’s Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states). The meeting took place at Hotel Presidential.

NPN had zoned the vice-presidential slot to the east, so it was also time to discuss potential candidates. Shagari told both states to nominate candidates by consensus, and he would then pick one based on the decision of the executive committee of the party. Anambra nominated Ekwueme — in fact, Onoh nominated him and it was unanimously supported — while Imo nominated Macaulay Nwankwo. Both nominees were friends. Shagari got their resumes.

Campaign done and dusted in the east, the Shagari train headed for Benue state. At the Anambra-Enugu border, the unexpected happened — according to Ekwueme.

“When we got to the border, the people from Benue state were waiting to receive Shagari and we parked, did some back-slapping and just while all that was happening, Shagari drew me aside and said he wanted to tell me himself and that he would like us to work together once the NEC approves, that he wants to work with me; but he said I should still keep it to myself. I thanked him right there at the border; but again, something very interesting happened. As we were returning to our state, some people who were still interested in the job still went with him to Benue state and all along with the campaign until he came back to Lagos,” Ekwueme told Vanguard in an interview in 2009.

CONTROVERSIAL DONATION

Politics and controversy are bedfellows, and Ekwueme was soon baptised in ways he did not expect. Having been picked by Shagari, he was just waiting for the ratification and official nomination when a politician alleged that he had donated N2 million (which, using the exchange rate factor, would be nearly N800 million today) to the party. The gist was that he had bought the VP slot.

He explained what happened thereafter.

“Before that January 1983 NEC meeting of the NPN where the ticket would be ratified, a national newspaper of that day had a front page picture of the man with a bold inscription: Gunning for NPN Vice Presidential Ticket. By the next day when it had become public that I got it, they asked him what happened. He just said I gave the party N2 million to get the ticket so that was how the issue of N2 million came about; but as at that time, I had not given even one kobo to anybody,” Ekwueme said.

He actually donated N1 million after he had been officially named as the vice-presidential candidate.

“When we were about commencing campaigns, people were looking for money and as running mate I should be able to contribute something so I sold some properties of mine in Palmgrove (Lagos) and made a donation of N1 million to the campaign,” he said.