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Meet Idoma sons who were military governors in other Nigerian states (Full list)
By Ameh Godwin (with additional info by Andy Obeya and Colonel John I. Ubah)
Unknown to many, Idoma community has produced sons who had served as military administrators in many Nigerian states during various military regimes in the past.
ALSO READ: Eight interesting facts about the Idoma people
Today, IDOMA VOICE brings the roll call of Idoma sons who were in charge of other states
Ernest Kizito Attah (Cross River)
Lt. Colonel Ernest Attah was Military Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria, between December 1989 and January 1992 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
When he assumed office he found so many problems with the state finances that he dissolved the entire state cabinet and set up two panels of inquiry headed by high court judges Emmanuel Effanga and Dorothy Nsa Eyamba-Idem to probe the administration of his predecessor Eben Ibim Princewill.
Colonel Anthony Ochefu (East Central State)
Late Anthony Aboki Ochefu was a Military Governor of East Central State from July 1975 to February 1976 during the military regime of General Murtala Mohammed.
During the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–70, Ochefu commanded a battalion tasked with clearing Biafran troops from the riverain areas of the Midwest, taking Koko, Sapele, and Warri, before exploiting northwards to link up with Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed’s 2nd Division. His battalion was then used as a spearhead in the seaborne landing and capture of Calabar.
Colonel Anthony Ochefu was provost-marshal in 1975 when he was one of the leaders of the coup that overthrew General Yakubu Gowon on 29 July 1975.
As a Christian, he played an important role in involving middle-belt officers in the planned coup.
Ochefu played a central role in pulling off the coup, centered on the army headquarters at Dodan Barracks. Immediately after the coup, he was appointed Governor of East Central State.
As governor, he renamed the newly opened Haile Selassie I Institute to the State Orthopaedic Hospital in July 1975, and shelved plans to build an Ophthalmic surgery part of the hospital.
After Murtala Mohammed was assassinated on 13 February 1976, Chief of Staff Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state. Obasanjo fired or retired 215 officers. Ochefu was ostensibly fired for his conduct before the coup as Commanding Officer of the Lagos Garrison.
Ochefu was shot dead at a Petrol Station in Oturkpo, Benue State on 25 November 1999.
Colonel John I. Ubah (Kebbi State)
Colonel John I. Ubah was Administrator of Kebbi State in Nigeria from August 1996 to August 1998 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
He was born in Okpobla, Ahilia, Benue State.
As Kebbi State governor, in January 1998 he threatened to sack the management of the Kebbi state radio station since it could still not be heard beyond a 10-kilometre radius.[3]
In 2001 he was one of the former military governors who declared the formation of the United Nigeria Development Forum (UNDF), a political lobby group.
John Ubah is the author of four poetry works – Songs of Lokoja, Where the Eagle Perches, Birds of Kebbi Land and Daybreak – and has contributed to several poetry anthologies.
Major General (retired) Chris Abutu Garuba was Governor of Bauchi State, Nigeria from August 1985 to December 1988 during the military regime of Major General Ibrahim Babangida.
Garuba was born in Ipole, Otukpo Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.
As Commander of 34 Self Propelled Artillery Brigade, Jos, Garuba lent his support to the coup of 27 August 1985 that brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power, leading the team that arrested the GOC of the 3rd Armoured Division, Brigadier Salihu Ibrahim. Immediately after the coup, he was promoted to Colonel and was appointed Governor of Bauchi.
Garuba was an energetic administrator in Bauchi. He initiated the Rural Transformation Programme to develop roads, water, electricity, agriculture and education. He upgraded the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium and built the Multi-Purpose Indoor Sports Hall and various other sports venues.
He established Bauchi State Polytechnic (now known as Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic), the Inland Bank, Bauchi State Television Authority and Bauchi Printing and Publishing Company.
After returning to the army, Garuba held a series of local and foreign appointments, and rose to the rank of Major General before retiring.
During the attempted coup of 22 April 1990 by Major Gideon Orkar, Brigadier Garuba was Corp Commander, Artillery. While the centre of the military command in the Dodan Barracks was being retaken, he deployed additional units within and around Lagos on standby.
Brigadier General David Mark (Niger State)
David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, GCON (born April 1948) was a military governor of Niger State during the military of Gen Muhammadu Buhari in 1986.
Mark was born in Zungeru Niger State in April 1948. He attended St. Francis Catholic Practicing School before attending the Nigerian Military School then he attended the Nigerian Defence Academy.
He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1970 and became a Captain in 1971. He was Commandant of Static Communications in 1974, then later held a political post as Chairman Abandoned Properties Implementation Committee in the Eastern region in 1976.
Major Gen. Lawrence Onoja (Kastina/Plateau)
Major General (retired) Lawrence Anebi Onoja was the military governor of Plateau State, Nigeria from 1986 to July 1988 and then of Katsina State until December 1989 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.
He later became Principal Staff Officer to General Sani Abacha. He retired from the army in 1998, and after the return to democracy in May 1999 with the Nigerian Fourth Republic entered into politics.
Onoja was born on 10 August 1948 at Idekpa Okpiko, Ohimini local government in Benue State of Idoma origins. He attended St. Francis College, Otukpo and then Government College in Lafia, Nasarawa State (1962–1966). He joined the army in 1966 as a cadet officer.
Onoja attended the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and the Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, England. Onoja was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in October 1968. While in the army, Onoja attended Cameron University, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, earning a degree in Political Science. He later obtained an M.Sc. in Political Science from the University of Jos, and a PhD in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Jos.
As Plateau State governor, in an effort to defuse tension between Christians and Moslems, Onoja (a Christian) announced that all public places of worship would be destroyed.
In April 1988 he was forced to shut down the University of Jos following student disturbances.
As military governor in Katsina State Onoja was noted for his honesty.
In March 1989 he announced that a US $20 million loan from Saudi Arabia was being negotiated for the Zobe Dam agricultural irrigation project.
Colonel Mike Attah (Anambra)
Colonel Mike E. Attah was the Military Administrator of Anambra State in Nigeria from 9 December 1993 to 21 August 1996 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
On October 25, 1995, Mike Attah set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate violent disturbances that had erupted on 30 September 1995 between the Aguleri and Umuleri communities. The commission found that the attack by the Aguleri had been carefully planned, including use of hired mercenaries, and that the local authorities had done little to avert the crisis.
He dismissed six government-employed journalists for failing to join his entourage because their car was out of fuel.
In 1995 he made a grant of about N12 million to the Anambra State Polytechnic for reconditioning and renovation of the facilities.
He awarded a contract for N650 million to Chief Christian Uba, a businessman, to build the new Government House and the governor’s lodge, known as Zik’s Place.
Sunday Orinya Ifere
Sunday Orinya Ifere was born 19 December 1943.
He was a Nigerian army officer who was the Military Governor of Kwara State between July 1978 and October 1979.
He is from Igumale area of Benue State. As a lieutenant, in the unsuccessful Nigerian Counter-Coup of 1966 he was involved in fighting in Kaduna, serving in the same squadron as Ibrahim Babangida, who later became military head of state from August 1985 until August 1993.
A colonel when military governor, he retired as a major general
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