PROFILE
By Aniebo Nwamu
Okechukwu Cleophas EZEA, born August 11, 1963, at Itchi in the present-day Igbo-Eze South LGA of Enugu State, was a soccer buff right from childhood. His love for “the beautiful game”, as football maestro Jackson Pele described the sport, drew him into another kind of game: the game of politics.
The typical “brain and brawn”, he manifested his prowess early in life. A chick that will grow into a hen can be spotted on the day it is hatched, according to an Igbo proverb. The boy who later became more widely known as “Ideke” – the name stuck after he founded Ideke Shipping Limited in 1995 – was unarguably an extremely brilliant pupil who took the first position in his classes at four primary schools in Ibagwa-Aka, Obukpa, Iheaka and Enugu-Ezike that he attended. He extended the feat to Nsukka High School, Nsukka, where he made a double distinction – aggregate 6 – in the WASC exams of 1980.
*COURAGEOUS FIGHTER*
As a kid he separated fights and engaged in fights himself when necessary. He could not stand injustice or oppression, and so he was never found guilty by peacemakers after any fight with fellow kids.
Even at high school, Okey Ezea was the nemesis of bullies: he constantly defended the weak and the oppressed, whether they were his juniors or seniors. As an adult in university, he saw a calling in politics, if to continue fighting for a just society around him. In doing so, he never employed intimidation or thugs, nor did he belong to any cult – cultism on campus rarely existed in his day anyway.
*STUDENT SENATOR*
Ezea did not allow his academic progress or love for soccer to deter him from campus politics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in the 1980s. It was at UNN that he cut his teeth in politics. While he studied for his first degree in Political Science, he won elections as Speaker, Political Science Students Parliament (1983--84); Welfare Officer, University of Nigeria Student Union Government, SUG (1984--85); Member, House of Representatives (1984--85); Member of the Senate (1984--85); and Member of the Senate, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS (1984--85).
It was no coincidence, therefore, that, later in life, he became a Patron of the Federated Association of Nsukka Students (FANS). And in recognition of his pragmatism in the struggle for the cause of his people of Nsukka cultural zone, he was invited to every association of Nsukka in every city in which he lived or did business: Itchi Youth Congress; Nsukka Patriotic Movement, Port Harcourt; Nsukka, Catholic Community, Port Harcourt; and Nsukka People’s Movement, Lagos, among others. A devout Catholic, he was a member of St. Jude’s Society, St. Leo Catholic Church Parish, Yaba, Lagos.
*CUSTOMS OFFICER*
After his NYSC in Bauchi, in 1987, Okey Ezea returned to the Nigeria Customs Service which he had joined as an officer immediately after high school (with his double distinction in WASC) in 1980. Between August 1980 and September 1982, he worked with the Board of Customs and Excise in Enugu as well as the Federal Operation Unit in Ikeja, Lagos. With his B.Sc. in Political Science, he was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Apapa Wharf, Lagos. In 1992 he became Deputy Superintendent of Customs, working at the X-Squad/Intelligence Department until 1993 when he retired from the services of the Customs and went into private business.
*‘IDEKE’*
First, he founded Damik Ventures Nig. Ltd which deals in engineering, construction and procurement. Starting business in 1994, Damik Ventures supplied auto parts to 20 UTC workshops nationwide; it was a registered stockist/buyer to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd; it supplied office equipment, telecommunication equipment/spares, instrumentation devices etc. not just to Shell but also to other multinationals Exxon Mobil and NLNG Ltd. Ideke Shipping Limited followed the next year, and Okey Ezea is the Managing Director of both companies to this day. As MD he is in charge of general management, policy direction, control and management of personnel, finance, operations, marketing and projects. Ideke Shipping deals, among others, in freight forwarding, shipping, warehousing, consolidation, marine/land transport, personal effects management, packing/removals, airfreight, sea-freight and customs brokerage. Its clients include Shell Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, Nigeria LNG Ltd, NEPA, General Electric Inc., Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd, Chevron, and Esso Petroleum. Ideke Shipping and Damik Ventures made money for their owner, but Okey Ezea did not let money sway him from pursuing his dream to become a lawyer.
*ADVOCATE OF THE OPPRESSED*
Defending the weak, the oppressed and the marginalized was, for him, a natural instinct. Even before he started his private businesses, he was already a Barrister at Law. He had enrolled for an LL.B. degree (via direct entry) in 1988 at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, and completed the programme in 1991. He attended the Nigerian Law School in Victoria Island, Lagos, immediately after.
One more word about Okey Ezea’s academic brilliance: Of course, he made a Second Class Honours, Upper Division (2-1), at UNN; he also made a 2-1 at UniLag and at the Law School. He enrolled for his Master of Laws degree in 1996 and graduated at the top of his class the next year. Then, in 2017, he became a PhD research student at the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos campus, Akoka, Lagos. But for the perennial strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Okey Ezea would have since obtained his PhD in Law. His thesis is on “Electoral Justice in Nigeria and the Role of the Courts”.
*COMMUNITY PATRON*
With both money and academic brilliance under his belt, Okey Ezea has remained a selfless servant of his people. This desire to serve and defend his people’s interests has inspired his foray into politics right from his youth. Even before he has held a public office, he has made his presence felt in his hometown itchi. Consider that he singlehandedly
• financed regular maintenance and rehabilitation of the Ibagwa-Itchi to Unadu-Alor Agu road
• procured pipes and water-pipe reticulation in parts Obanyi and Ndiagu Umuogu in Udeze Development Centre
• extended rural electrification in Itchi community, Udeze Development Centre, and
• constructed the headquarters of the secretariat of Udeze Development Centre in partnership with the state government.
Besides being an employer himself – his private companies have employed hundreds including many from Nsukka cultural zone – Okey Ezea has sought and found jobs for many in both private and public concerns where he has had influence. So long as one is competent on a job, so long is one identifiable by his eagle eyes.
‘ *IGWE BU IKE’ TO PARTISAN POLITICS*
The trained political scientist and lawyer, who has travelled round the world, joined partisan politics in 2003 as chairman, Contact and Mobilization, ANPP campaigns for the presidential and governorship candidates in Enugu State. By 2005 he started setting up his political structures in the state by forming the Igwe Bu Ike group from the grass roots. In November 2006, Igwe Bu Ike transformed into the Labour Party in Enugu State and presented a gubernatorial candidate, three senatorial, eight House of Representatives, 24 House of Assembly, 17 local government chairmanship and 260 councillorship candidates for the 2007 general election.
Okey Ezea (by then popularly called “Ideke”) ran for governor of Enugu State under the Labour Party platform in 2007. Igwe Bu Ike had received enormous goodwill and acceptance, especially in Nsukka, and contested elections again in 2011. The party was coasting home to victory in 2011 when the elections were cancelled midway. On the rescheduled date, the PDP went into massive vote-buying and writing of fictitious results with the aid of corrupt INEC officials and presumed security agents. As usual, LP was placed second in the total votes cast.
As the symbol and pillar of opposition to the PDP in Enugu State, Ideke became a co-founder of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a mega party formed in 2013 by several parties to wrest power from the ruling PDP, in the state. He was the main financier of the 2014 congress of the party, from the ward to the state levels, and he ensured that all offices (governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly) were contested by APC candidates, despite the stigmatization by the PDP in the state. As usual, during the 2015 general election, the vote thieves had their way in Enugu, but the APC won the presidential election.
In preparation for the 2019 elections, Okey Ezea served as chairman of the Appeal Committee for Anambra State Congress; member of the Screening Committee for senatorial candidates from the North-West geopolitical zone (seven states); and secretary of the Enugu State chapter of APC reconciliation committee, in a bid to reconcile all aggrieved stakeholders and members to ensure a united party.
The 2019 polls were even more massively rigged than in the previous election cycles. But even more worrying for Ideke was the sorry state of his people of Nsukka and Enugu State. The APC federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari was underperforming, as did the Enugu State government led by Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Uncomfortable with remaining in the APC and uncompromising in his stand against the PDP, Okey Ezea waited for divine intervention.
ANTIDOTE TO VOTE THEFT
As it turned out, the opportunity came early in 2022 with the enactment of a new Electoral Act that would make rigging almost impossible. Like all well-meaning Nigerians who have been victimized by the vote thieves, Okey Ezea felt relieved. With the emergence of Mr Peter Obi as presidential candidate of the Labour Party, he felt it was time to return to the party under which platform he ran for governor in 2007 and 2011.
Today, Chief Barrister Okey Ezea is the Labour Party candidate for Senate in Enugu North district. Since the 2023 general election in Nigeria promises to be free, fair and credible, Ideke is expected to win by a landslide over his main opponent in the PDP (Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi), who though has unlimited access to public funds lacks credibility and popularity, especially in Enugu North (Nsukka cultural zone), due to his non-performance in the House of Representatives for 12 years and underperformance as governor for eight years.
With the benefit of hindsight, one could see the hand of God in Ideke’s political career. After running for governor twice, unsuccessfully, he is finally ready to answer the call to serve. The student senator of the UNN Student Union Government (1984—85) is now poised to become a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
# November 2022