Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Festus Okotie-Eboh (18 July 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

during the administration of Sir

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence. Early life Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...

. Okotie-Eboh was born to an Itsekiri Chief, Prince Okotie Eboh in Warri Division, a town along the

Benin River The Benin River is a river that flows through the south west of Nigeria. The river starts under the name " Ethiope" in the south east of the state Edo. Subsequently, it runs through various cities and villages, such as Umutu, Owah Abbi, Obiar ...

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical ...

. Before his change of name, he was Chief Festus Samuel Edah. He was a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

of the

Nigerian First Republic The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system. The period between 1 October 1960, ...

party, NCNC, he was also a leader of the Federal Parliamentary Party of NCNC, replacing K.O. Mbadiwe.

Early life and business career

Okotie Eboh was born Festus Samuel Edah in Benin River, old

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial c ...

division. From 1932 to 1936, he attended Sapele Baptist School. Upon graduation, he clerked briefly in the Local District Office before returning to his alma mater as a teacher. In 1937, he gained employment at Bata Shoe Company as an accounting clerk. While working as a clerk, he was also studying bookkeeping and accounting. In 1944, Bata transferred him to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

as a Chief Clerk and West Coast Accountant. He was in Lagos for a year before returning to

Sapele ''Entandrophragma cylindricum'' is a tree of the genus '' Entandrophragma'' of the family ''Meliaceae''. It is commonly known as sapele or sapelli ( ) or sapele mahogany, as well as aboudikro, assi, and muyovu. Origin of the name The name ''sa ...

to become Deputy Manager of the Sapele branch. In 1947, he was sent to

Prague, Czechoslovakia Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...

for further training where he obtained a diploma in business administration and chiropody. He left Bata Shoe to establish a timber and rubber business. He was involved in a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

exporting business trading under the company name of Afro-Nigerian Export and Import Company. The firm exported ribbed smoked sheet rubber to Europe and North America. In 1958, he opened a rubber-creping factory and later in 1963, he started Omimi Rubber and Canvas Shoe factory. He also started a few ventures with two foreign partners: Dizengoff and Coutinho Caro, the partners promoted Mid-West Cement Co, a cement clinker plant in Koko and Unameji Cabinet Works. Okotie Eboh got married in 1942 and together with his wife, started a string of schools in

. The first school was Sapele Boys Academy, followed with Zik's College of Commerce. In 1953, he started Sapele Academy Secondary School. In the 1940s and 1950s, Okotie Eboh was a board member of Warri Ports Advisory Committee, Sapele Township Advisory Board and Sapele Town Planning Authority.

Political career

In 1951, after some influence from

Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the ...

, he contested for a seat and was elected to the Western Region House of Assembly. In 1954, he was elected treasurer of the N.C.N.C. and was successful as the party's candidate to represent Warri division in the House of Representatives. He was nominated as the Federal Minister of Labour and Welfare in January, 1955, and two years later, he was made Finance Minister.

Personal life

Okotie Eboh married an

Itsekiri The Itsekiri (also called the Isekiri, ''i Jekri'', ''Itsekri'', ''Ishekiri'', or Itsekhiri) are one of the Yoruboid subgroup of Nigeria's Niger Delta area, Delta State. The Itsekiris presently number 2.7 million people and live mainly in the ...

woman named princess Victoria Okotie-Eboh in 1942. He was 53 years at the time of his death during the 1966 assassination in Nigeria and was survived by his wife victoria and 14 children from their relationship and others. He was title the ovieigho of Nigeria, the ovie of warri, .ITSHEKIRI/URHOBO PEOPLE. OVIE_OF_WARRI.html"_;"title="OVIE_OF_WARRI.html"_;"title="OVIE_OF_WARRI">OVIE_OF_WARRI">OVIE_OF_WARRI.html"_;"title="OVIE_OF_WARRI">OVIE_OF_WARRI

_Death

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_Death

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Death

Okotie-Eboh was assassinated along with Tafawa Balewa">Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa in the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état">military coup of January 15, 1966, which terminated the

, and thus civilian rule.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okotie-Eboh, Festus 1912 births 1966 deaths Itsekiri people Assassinated Nigerian politicians Assassinated Nigerian people Deaths by firearm in Nigeria People murdered in Nigeria Finance ministers of Nigeria Delta State politicians 1966 murders in Nigeria

Early life and business career

Political career

Personal life

_Death

_Death

Death

Further reading

References