Ike Chinyere Nwosu; Colonel of the Nigerian army; born November 21, 1946. Nwosu was a burly army officer reputed for his lack of finesse in the handling of state matters. Criticized for leaving no achievements in his stewardship as military administrator, he had on a number of occasions demonstrated compassion, the most outstanding of which is the total rehabilitation of Bose, ‘the nail-in-the-head’ girl who he adopted into his family. At a time other state football clubs were being starved of funds, Nwosu catapulted the Sunshine Stars Sports Club (3SC) club to the enviable position of big spenders after Julius Berger and BCC Lions of Gboko.
Nwosu was not only known as a tough-talking administrator, but also a very unconventional one. At Abia State he either concerned himself with matters that were regarded as trivial or, where he attended to serious matters, he dug into the archives for methods already overtaken by civilization. He once reportedly flogged civil servants who reported late for work. The people took to the streets in jubilation upon hearing the news of his redeployment. Right from the first day of his deployment to Oyo State as military administrator he had lived up to his reputation, declaring that the singing of national anthem will herald all public functions, and all rather than bands will sing by mouth.
Nwosu took the reins of government from his predecessor, Navy Captain Adetoye Sode at a time when civil servants were being owed a catalogue of arrears of their emoluments. Quite characteristic of him, he asked them to pray and fast so that he could meet up with the challenge of paying their immediate salaries “because if there is no money, I won’t kill myself.” Nwosu upgraded executive idleness to the state of an art. On many occasions he locked out civil servants, including the Secretary to the State Government, for late-coming. In a display of executive power he ordered the highly controversial spiritual leader of Ibadan, Sat Guru Mahatajji and his devotees to vacate their operational base at kilometre 10 Lagos-Ibadan[i].
[i] AM September 10, 1995
