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The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has appointed a former Mayor of the London Borough of Brent, Mr Ernest Ezeajughi, as his Chief of Staff.
Ezeajughi was among three new appointments announced by the Governor on Monday. Others are Mr Richard Nwora Madiebo, Chairman, Anambra State Internal Revenue Service; and AVM Ben Chiobi (Rtd.), Special Adviser on Security to the Governor.
However, Ezeajughi, being a former public officeholder outside the shore of Nigeria stands out among the three new appointees.
Here are the things to know about the new Chief of Staff:
Background
Ezeajughi was born in 1960 in Awgbu Town in southern Nigeria, Anambra State. He is the son of Sir Simeon Okeke Ezeajughi, an educator and prominent politician in the region.
Education
After attending Aguata High School, Ezeajughi studied medical microbiology and graduated in 1998 at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik). Before his graduation, he was active in student government activities.
He bagged a Master of Science degree in Environmental Health Management at Kings College London.
Work
Upon completing a mandatory one-year term with the Nigerian National Youth Service Corps, he worked in his family’s business, Koval Linkworld Agencies Ltd. Ezeajughi left for Brent, England, in 2004 to reunite with his wife.
After his master’s degree, he also worked at different organisations, including the Royal Mail, Public Health England, and the Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Authority.
Politics
Ezeajughi became a founding member of the British chapter of Nigeria’s All Progressives Grand Alliance party and was its chairman from 2010 to 2012.
In May 2014, Ezeajughi, also a member of the Labour Party, won a seat on the Brent Council representing Stonebridge ward. Reelected in 2018, months later he was elected Deputy Mayor of Brent.
Ezeajughi was voted Mayor for a two-term by his fellow councilors on April 16, 2019. At his inauguration, Ezeajughi noted that Brent was one of the most diverse boroughs of London with more than 100 languages spoken and nearly all of its residents speaking a language other than English at home.
Ezeajughi’s election as a mayor of African descent was at least the seventh such occurrence in the United Kingdom, the others being, in chronological order, Allan Minns in Thetford in 1904; John Richard Archer in Battersea in 1913; Marvin Rees in Bristol in 2016; Olugbenga Babatola in Greenwich in 2016; Sanchia Alasia in Barking and Dagenham in 2018; and Emmanuel Trailor in Becon in 2018.
Family
The new Chief of Staff is the father of four children and he lives in Wembley with his wife, Ijeoma, before his new appointment.
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