By Emmanuel Iriogbe
Unconfirmed reports have it that Chief Anthony Anenih is dead. The Iyasele of Esan Kingdom that has played pivotal role in modern day Nigeria was said to have passed on today after an undisclosed illness associated with old age.
Anenih known in the political circle as ‘Mr. Fix It’ emerged as a political collosus in the Nigeria political sphere.
Brief History!
Anthony Akhakon Anenih was born in Uzenema-Arue in Uromi. In 1951 he joined the Nigeria police force in Benin City. Working at home, he obtained secondary school qualifications. He attended the police college in Ikeja, and was selected for further training in the Bramshill Police College, Basingstoke, England in 1966 and the International Police Academy, Washington DC in 1970. He served as a police orderly to the first Governor General of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. He worked as an instructor in various police colleges, and in 1975 was assigned to the Administrative Staff College (ASCON), Lagos. He retired from the police as a Commissioner of police.[1]
He was State Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria(NPN) between 1981 and 1983, helping Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia become elected as civilian Governor of Bendel State. However, the governorship was cut short by the military takeover of December 1983. He was National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1992 and 1993, when he assisted in the election Chief M. K. O. Abiola as president. He was a member of the Constitutional Conference in 1994.[1]
Anenih was a member of the PDM until early April 2002, when he transferred to the People’s Democratic Party(PDP). Anenih was said to have masterminded the 26 April 2002 declaration of President Obasanjo at the International Conference center Abuja.[2] He was deputy national coordinator of Olusegun Obasanjo‘s campaign Organisation in the 1999 and 2003 elections.[1]
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