Wike: Immortalise Prof. Ekpebu

Sir, The African intrepid Until his transition on January 2, 2022 at 87, Amb (Prof.) Lawrence Baraebibai Ekpebu served Nigeria with singleness of purpose. Indeed, his abiding creed was “Service to God and Mankind.” He explained: “The only career for man is serving God and mankind irrespective of age and circumstance. One’s skills and education are means to this sacred calling. A baby who quietens at night to enable his parents enjoy a sound sleep is serving God. The parents who sacrifice all to train their children are also serving God. Even a dying old man about to expire can also serve God.”

Born May 2, 1935 to Chief Naupa Ekpebu and Mary Geku of Okoloba town, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Council, Bayelsa State, Prof. Ekpebu made history as the first African to graduate from Harvard University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1962, he earned a Master’s in Public Administration, MPA, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Government, Princeton University. This was followed by another Master’s and Doctorate from Harvard in 1965. Then declining the best from the West, he returned to Nigeria that same year to take up a teaching job with the University of Ibadan.

On May 27, 1967, General Yakubu (Jack) Gowon magnanimously created Rivers and South Eastern States for the former Eastern Minorities. The man he picked to build Rivers was a young naval officer called Commander Alfred Diete-Spiff. Willing to learn, Commander Spiff assembled 11 commissioners, historically known as Rivers First Eleven, to assist him. Those he picked were deep minds whose conducts and actions catapulted the state to foremost position. 

They included then Dr Lawrence Baraebibai Ekpebu, Commissioner for Finance; Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, Commissioner for Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Resources; Mr. Kenule Beeson Tsaro-Wiwa, Commissioner for Education; Mr. N. Nwanodi, Commissioner for Health and Dr. Nabo B. Graham-Douglas, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

Others were Chief EJA Oriji, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade and Industry; Mr. O Ngei, Commissioner for Works, Land and Transport; Chief S.F. Kombo-Igbeta, Commissioner for Establishment; Dr. Obi Wali, Commissioner for Rehabilitation; Dr. WT Wakama, Commissioner for Local Government and Information and Pro. Isaac Dema, Chairman, Public Service Commission.

Contributed in building Rivers
Sacrificing a flourishing lecturing job with the University of Ibadan and family comfort, Ekpebu relocated to the war-torn Rivers in 1968. As the longest serving commissioner, he served a total of seven years – five years as commissioner for Finance and two as joint Commissioner for Ministry of Economic Development and Reconstruction and Ministry of Information.

At the tertiary level, the Rivers Automatic Scholarship Scheme, RASS, was established for students at home and abroad. This scholarship was the brainchild of Ekpebu who modelled it after one of the Harvard scholarships he created through Chief Samuel Awokoya. He played a big role establishing the Rivers State College of Science and Technology and College of Education that metamorphosed into the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology, RSUST, known today as Rivers State University, RSU, and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. When the Federal Government placed embargo on state universities, he negotiated the establishment of the University of Port Harcourt. As Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council of RSUST, he repositioned the institution for greater productivity.

We implore Governor Wike to right the historic wrong done Ekpebu, a great son of old Rivers, by naming a higher institution of learning, a major road or the Faculty of Social Sciences of the RSU after him. Alternatively, as His Excellency has the ultimate discretion, Wike could immortalise this great icon by gazetting a public holiday as Prof. Lawrence Ekpebu’s Day.
Chigachi Eke wrote via Email: [email protected]