Ebitu Ukiwe

Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe (born 26 October 1940) is a retired Commodore in the Nigerian Navy who served as the de facto Vice President of Nigeria under military head of state General Ibrahim Babangida from 1985 to 1986.

Family Ukiwe was born on 26 October 1940, the son of Chief Ebitu Ukiwe of Abiriba in Abia State. His father was a traditional ruler in Abiriba and head of the old Bende Division Local Government Appeal Court.

Naval career Ukiwe joined the Nigerian Navy in 1960 as a cadet (officer), and was commissioned in 1964 with the rank of sub-lieutenant. He defected to the Biafran Armed Forces in 1966.

Biafran War During the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970 he fought on the Biafran side. After the war, in January 1972 he was readmitted to the Navy, one of the few Igbo officers to regain their position.

Military career Ukiwe was a member of the Supreme Military Council between 1975 and 1977. General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him military governor of Niger State in 1977. He was re-deployed to Lagos State as governor in July 1978, holding this post until October 1979. He was also in the SMC under General Muhammadu Buhari from 1983 to 1985, while serving as Flag Officer, Western Naval command. He was appointed director, Naval Faculty, Jaji (1981–1984) and Flag Officer, Western Naval Command (1984–1985).

He became chairman of companies such as Bitu Properties, Kobimat, Bitu Promar and Rudocons. He served as an adviser and consultant to Statoil (Nigeria), an offshore oil production company, for nine years.

Ukiwe is a notable voice in the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS)'s campaign for an equitable union, against the background of rising Muslim fundamentalism of the Nigerian political North.