…He was the first elected Vice President of Nigeria (1979 to 1983)
…Proposed just and equitable power sharing in Nigeria
Former Nigerian vice president in the Second Republic Dr Alex Ekwueme has died in the United Kingdom where he was receiving treatment, his family said.
“Ekwueme family regrets to announce the peaceful passing away of their patriarch, the former Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme GCON,” his brother Professor Laz Ekwueme said in a statement.
“The sad event occurred at the London Clinic at 10:00 pm on Sunday 19th November 2017.”
Ekwueme, who celebrated his 85th birthday on October 21, was reported to have collapsed at his home on October 29 and was rushed to Memfys Hospital of Neurosurgery, Enugu, where he was treated for a chest infection.
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He was later flown to London in an air ambulance on November 12 on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ekwueme was elected as Nigeria’s vice president in 1979, a position he held until December 1983 when the Shehu Shagari government was overthrown in a military coup in December 1983.
He is famous for his proposals at the Nigeria National Constitutional Conference for a just and equitable power sharing in Nigeria based on the six geopolitical zones have now come to be accepted as necessary for maintaining a stable Nigerian polity.
Dr Ekwueme mobilized the group of 34 eminent Nigerians who risked their lives to stand up against the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha during the era of military rule in Nigeria.
He was the founding Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria and was the first Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Ekwueme is a prolific philanthropist, public servant, and a man of peace.
Details later.
