Ernest Shonekan (May 9, 1936 - January 11, 2022)
Category: Who is Who in Nigeria
Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan GCFR (9 May 1936 – 11 January 2022)
was a Nigerian lawyer and statesman who served as the interim Head of State of
Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993. He was titled Abese of
Egbaland from 1981 (in addition to a variety of other chieftaincy titles).
Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the chairman and chief
executive of the United African Company of Nigeria (successor of The Niger
Company), a vast Nigerian conglomerate, which at the time was the largest
African-controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Shonekan was born
in Lagos on 9 May 1936. The son of an Abeokuta-born civil servant, he was one
of six children born into the family.
Shonekan was educated at CMS
Grammar School and Igbobi College. He received a law degree from the
University of London, and was called to the bar. He later attended Harvard
Business School.
Shonekan joined the United Africa Company of
Nigeria in 1964, at the time a subsidiary of the United Africa Company which
played a prominent role in British colonization. He rose through the ranks in
the company and was promoted to assistant legal adviser. He later became a
deputy adviser and joined the board of directors at the age of 40. He was made
chairman and managing director in 1980, and went on to cultivate a wide array
of international business and political connections.
On 2 January 1993, Shonekan assumed office simultaneously as head of
transitional council and head of government under Ibrahim Babangida. At the
time, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a
scheduled hand over to an elected democratic leader of the Third Nigerian
Republic.
Shonekan learned of the dire condition of government
finances, which he was unable to correct. The government was hard pressed on
international debt obligations and had to hold constant talks for debt
rescheduling.
In August 1993, Babangida resigned from office,
following the annulment of the 12 June elections. He signed a decree
establishing the Interim National Government led by Shonekan who was
subsequently sworn-in as head of state.
In November 1993, three
months into his administration, Shonekan was overthrown in palace coup by
Abacha.
In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group an
advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the
Nigerian economy.
Since then Shonekan went on to feature
prominently as an elder statesman.
Shonekan was married to
Margaret Shonekan. He died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 85 at Evercare
Hospital in Lagos. At the time of his death, he was the third oldest surviving
Nigerian head of state by age after Elizabeth II and Yakubu Gowon.
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