Ikedi Ohakim

Ikedi Ohakim was born on 4 August 1957 in Okohia in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State. He attended the University of Lagos, gaining a BSc in business administration and a master's degree in management. Ohakim worked for over 15 years at First Aluminium and then at Tower Groups. He became executive director of Alucon in 1997, and later became chairman of Mekalog Group, an engineering firm supplying the defense, security, construction, fabrication, oil and gas sectors. One of their daughters Adanna Steinacker, is a medical doctor, entrepreneur, public speaker, and digital influencer. She is married to German native David Steinacker, a business consultant in the technology sector. ==Early political career==

Ohakim was appointed Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Imo State from 1992 to 1993 under governor Evan Enwerem. The government was removed from office by the military regime headed by General Sani Abacha. Ohakim had aspired to be the PDP governorship candidate, but claimed that he pulled out because of what he described as "commercialization" of the party ticket, deciding to run for another party instead. He said there was little ideological difference between the PDP and the PPA. After widespread violence broke out during voting on 14 April 2007, the Independent National Electoral Commission cancelled the election and rescheduled it for 28 April 2007. Ohakim was declared the victor of the second election. His opponent Martins Agbaso of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) challenged the decision, claiming he was leading when the first election was cancelled, and claiming other irregularities. ==Governor of Imo State==

in Nigeria In April 2009 Ohakim led a fourteen-man delegation to Taiwan to see what lessons from that resource-poor but dynamic economy could be applied to Nigeria. In November 2009 the Imo State legislature enacted a law, "Imo State Prohibition and Hostage-taking and Other Related Offences", that makes it a capital offence for anybody to be involved in kidnapping or hostage-taking. The law was enacted by a majority of more than 2/3 after Ohakim had refused to sign it on the grounds that he felt it was unnecessarily harsh. Maximum Uba had written a number of hostile articles in publications such as Thisday since Ohakim was elected. ==Publications==

In 1994, Ohakim published The Marketing Imperative for Rural Industrialization (Africana Educational Publishers). He published three books while governor. Pushing the Limits describes his personal career and political philosophy. The Courage to Challenge and Challenging New Frontiers are collections of speeches. He launched the three books at a ceremony in Lagos in July 2009.{{Cite news |url = http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/arts/2009/july/21/arts-21-07-2009-001.htm|location=Lagos, Nigeria |title = Portrait of a leader as a writer |author = SOLA BALOGUN |date = 21 July 2009 |access-date = 2009-12-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120427232243/http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/arts/2009/july/21/arts-21-07-2009-001.htm |archive-date = 27 April 2012 |url-status = dead ==See also==