TODAY IN HISTORY, ON THIS DAY OCTOBER 21, 1932: ALEX EKWUEME, THE MAN WHO BECAME NIGERIA’S FIRST ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT, WAS BORN
TODAY IN HISTORY, ON THIS DAY OCTOBER 21, 1932: ALEX EKWUEME, THE MAN WHO BECAME NIGERIA’S FIRST ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT, WAS BORN
On this day, October 21, 1932, Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was born in Oko, in present-day Anambra State, Nigeria.
He would grow up to become an architect, a scholar, a politician, and one of the important figures in Nigeria’s political history.
Ekwueme’s journey was marked by a strong commitment to education. He attended King’s College, Lagos, before travelling to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of Washington. He later obtained additional qualifications in urban planning, history, philosophy, and law, and earned a doctorate from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. ft
But Ekwueme was more than an academic.
After returning to Nigeria, he established Ekwueme Associates, an architectural and town-planning firm that grew into a major indigenous business. ft
His journey into national politics reached a turning point in 1979, when he became Nigeria’s first elected executive Vice-President, serving alongside President Shehu Shagari during the Second Republic.
Their administration came to an abrupt end on December 31, 1983, when the military overthrew the civilian government.
Despite the end of his time in office, Ekwueme remained involved in Nigerian politics. He became an advocate of constitutional democracy and participated in efforts to restore democratic government.
In 1998, he was among the prominent political figures involved in the formation of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), later becoming its first Board of Trustees chairman.
Dr. Ekwueme died on November 19, 2017, at the age of 85, leaving behind a legacy in architecture, education, and Nigerian public life.
Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, was renamed in his honour in 2018.
Today, as we remember his birth, we remember a man whose journey took him from Oko to the highest elected office in the land.
HAPPY POSTHUMOUS BIRTHDAY TO DR. ALEX IFEANYICHUKWU EKWUEME, NIGERIA’S FIRST ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT. MAY HIS MEMORY CONTINUE TO LIVE ON.
