Air Commodore (retired) Ibrahim Kefas (27 January 1948 – 1 October 2021) served as military administrator of
Cross River State
Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...
in Nigeria between December 1993 and September 1994, and then of
Delta State
Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...
until August 1996 during the military regime of General
Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998.
Abacha's seiz ...
.
Early life and education
Ibrahim Kefas was born into a Christian family on 27 January 1948, in Wukari, Taraba State. He was the oldest of many children born to Christian missionary Atewunu Angyu Kefas (Manu). His father, Manu, was one of the missionaries to introduce Christianity to the region. Being a very devout Christian, he put Ibrahim Kefas in Bible College by the age of thirteen hoping he would become a preacher. Ibrahim Kefas, being the youngest student in Bible College at time, completed his program before most but had other plans. He was fascinated by planes and wanted to fly them so he joined the Nigerian Defence Academy and became a pilot before he was 20 years old.
Career
As a group captain, Kefas was appointed governor of Delta State on 26 September 1994.
While governor of Delta State, he sacked professor Frank Mene Adedemiswanye Ukoli, Vice-Chancellor of
Delta State University
Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta.
History
The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...
for political reasons, an incident recorded in Ukoli's book ''A state university is born: throes of birth, ordeals of growth''.
In March 2002, as
Taraba State
Taraba is a States of Nigeria, state in north-eastern Nigeria, named after the Taraba River, which traverses the southern part of the state. It is known as "Nature's Gift to the Nation". Its capital is Jalingo. The state's main Demographics ...
Chairman of
Peoples Democratic Party, Kefas and other party politicians were attacked by over 200 youths who invaded a party rally, and narrowly escaped death.
Kefas was nominated as
National Democratic Party candidate for governor in the 2007 elections in Taraba State. The winner was the People's Democratic Party candidate,
Danbaba Suntai
Danbaba Danfulani Suntai (30 June 1961 – 28 June 2017) was a Nigerian pharmacist and politician who served as the governor of Taraba State from 2007 to 2015.
He was involved in a self piloted aircrash on 25 October 2012, which left him incapa ...
.
Death
Kefas died in the early hours of 1 October 2021, in a hospital in Abuja.
See also
*
List of governors of Cross River State
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kefas, Ibrahim
1948 births
2021 deaths
Nigerian Air Force officers
People from Taraba State
Nigerian military governors of Cross River State
Nigerian military governors of Delta State