Will Ume-Ezeoke Be Missed In The Polity?

In this piece, OLAOLU OLADIPO examines the life and times of the late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who between 1979 and 1983 was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, his achievements and frustrations.

Death has once again bore its ugly fang, this time removing finally from the nation’s turbulent yet dynamic political landscape, a quintessential patriot, refined and disciplined politician of note who by any standard can be described as seasoned, Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke.

Before he succumbed to the cold hands of death in far away India last Monday, his last political outing was the chairmanship of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He was 76. Ume-Ezeoke was the first Nigerian to be elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives in a presidential regime in the aborted Second Republic.

He became speaker following an accord reached between the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), which controlled the Federal Government and his party, the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) led by late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

A terse statement from the family said the running mate to the then ANPP’s presidential candidate Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) in the 2007 elections died at an unnamed Indian hospital after a protracted illness at the ripe age of 76.

Though, not much has been heard about him after his exit from office in controversial manner but prior to the unfortunate incidence, his name featured prominently as a promoter of the controversial single executive tenure project.

Since the announcement, close associates have continued to shower encomium on him, extolling his virtues. Pioneer National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Senator Rufai Hanga, described his death as a shock and a great loss not only to his family but to the entire nation.

“There is no doubt that his legacies will pose a challenge in the political arena. His roles as the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and as National Chairman of ANPP were all remarkable. May God receive his gentle soul in peace.” He said.

Perhaps the person best suitable to comment on the deceased is Political Adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai who described his death as a huge loss to the country. Reacting to the incidence, he reminisced on how they met in 1979 when the deceased was elected Speaker of House of Representatives.

“We worked together for four years as a result of which we became close friends and associates. He was a dedicated Nigerian, highly detribalized and committed patriot who discharged his responsibility as Speaker to the admiration of his colleagues and the five registered political parties at that time.” The Kano State born elder statesman said.
According to him, “We maintained cordial relationship ever since; and because of that commitment and humility, we were close friends until his death. We also pray that Allah may grant him eternal rest and the family and the Nigerian nation the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”

Presidential candidate of defunct National Republican Convention, NRC, Alhaji Bashir Tofa was not left out in the tribute galore, “When he was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I was national Financial Secretary of the NPN. But I got to know him better when I became the NRC presidential candidate, and he served well as a member of the Finance Committee in the South-East. We became even closer when he decamped to ANPP and later became its National Chairman.”

Tofa said Ume-Ezeoke was a faithful Christian who dedicated most part of his life to serve God, humanity and the country, just as he prayed that God may have mercy upon his soul and grant the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke was born September 8, 1935 in Amichi in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Curiously, his ascendance in politics was smooth and meteoric, when at 44 he was elected into the lower legislative chambers and the speaker of the House, making him the number four on the national order of precedence.

Ironically, when he was born in 1935, nothing to suggested that he would attain such a height in life. He attended St. Eugenia’s Primary School, Amichi from 1943 -1951. For secondary education, he was at St. Patrick’s College, Calabar from 1952-1956.

Before he proceeded to Western Polytechnic, London in 1960, he had a stint at the Department of Customs and Excise and moved on to the Middle Temple to study Law in 1961. He obtained a degree in Law in 1966 at a time political crisis that later snowballed into the civil war enveloped Nigeria. The coup deta’t of January and July 1966 and declaration of civil war prevented him from moving to the Nigeria Law School immediately. He was eventually called to the Nigerian Bar in 1971.

Chief Ume-Ezeoke was engaged in private legal practice until his foray into the world of partisan politics when the military lifted the ban on party politics in 1978. He joined the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) on whose platform he won the Nnewi Federal Constituency seat in 1979. The accord between the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the NPP saw Ume-Ezeoke’s political profile rise as he became the most senior elected politician from the Southeast and a key figure in the government of the Second Republic.

The ban slammed on old politicians by General Ibrahim Babangida after he seized power in 1985 led to his eclipse from the political scene. He bounced back in the Fourth Republic as National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) after an attempt to be duly recognised in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) failed.

His tenure as leader of the ANPP, a measure taken to stabilise a floundering party, was turbulent. His emergence as running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential election led to an uproar in the party. However, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced PDP’s Yar’Adua as winner of the election, Buhari headed for court but lost the support of Ume-Ezeoke and the party.

The late politician lost his hold on the party last year and was out of circulation throughout the April electioneering period and after the election, he sought to bring the ANPP into the proposed Government National Unity (GNU) but his party dissociated itself from Ezeoke, saying he was on his own and not representing the party on the matter.