Ngozi Onyeakusi
President Muhammadu Buhari has extended heartfelt condolences to the Anenih family on the death of its beloved patriarch and elder statesman, Chief Anthony Anenih.
President Buhari also commiserates with the government and people of Edo State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the passing of their illustrious son and former Chairman, Board of Trustees.
Similarly, Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has expressed deep sadness over the passing of elder statesman, Chief Anthony Anenih, whose death was reported on Sunday.
The governor, in a statement, said that Anenih’s death is a huge loss to the state and the nation as the elder statesman devoted a better part of his life to the development of the state and the country, contributing to national development in the various capacities he served while he lived.
According to him, “The whole of Edo State has suffered a huge loss with the death of Chief Anenih, the Iyasele of Esan land, who ranks as one of the most illustrious sons of the state.
Chief Anenih rose to the occasion when it mattered most, to defend the interest of Edo State and her people.
He attracted development to the state and groomed several Edo sons and daughters who are now active players in the nation’s political space.

Meanwhile, Anenih died Sunday evening at the Cedar Crest Hospital, Abuja where he has been receiving treatment for undisclosed ailment.

He was born in Uzenema-Arue in Uromi. In 1951 he joined the Nigeria police force in Benin City. Working at home, he obtained secondary school qualifications. He attended the police college in Ikeja, and was selected for further training in the Bramshill Police College, Basingstoke, England in 1966 and the International Police Academy, Washington DC in 1970. He served as a police orderly to the first Governor General of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. He worked as an instructor in various police colleges, and in 1975 was assigned to the Administrative Staff College (ASCON), Lagos. He retired from the police as a Commissioner of police.[1]

He was State Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) between 1981 and 1983, helping Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia become elected as civilian Governor of Bendel State. However, the governorship was cut short by the military takeover of December 1983. He was National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1992 and 1993, when he assisted in the election that the Late Chief M. K. O. Abiola won. He was a member of the Constitutional Conference in 1994. Anenih was a member of the PDM until early April 2002, when he transferred to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Anenih was said to have masterminded the 26 April 2002 declaration of President Obasanjo at the International Conference center Abuja. He was deputy national coordinator of Olusegun Obasanjo’s campaign Organisation in the 1999 and 2003 elections.

Chief Anenih was appointed Minister of Works and Housing in 1999. He subsequently became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.