Anthony Ukpo, a retired Brigadier General and former military governor of present day Rivers State, passed on early this Monday morning at foremost medical diagnostic facility, Asi Ukpo Hospital, Calabar, Cross River State, shocked family sources have confirmed.
Ukpo, the military strategist and entrepreneur, was born on July 16, 1947. He was appointed Minister of Information of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in August 1985. In 1986, he was appointed the Military Governor of Nigeria’s oil rich state, Rivers State (Present day Rivers and Bayelsa State). In 1989, he moved to Nigeria’s Presidency when he was appointed Principal Staff Officer (Civilian equivalent of Chief of Staff) Ibrahim Babangida. He retired meritoriously from the Nigerian Army in 1993.
He was an industrialist with varied interest in manufacturing, property development, Oil and Gas, hotel development, farming and most recently medical diagnosis.