FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE AKHIGBE DIES AT 68

Former Chief of General Staff, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, is dead. He was 68.
Akhigbe, whose position in the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC),
headed by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, made him the military
vice-president in the junta that superintended the return to democracy
in 1999, died at the weekend in England, THISDAY learnt Sunday.
It was gathered that the deceased had been battling with cancer for a long time.
Before his appointment as the chief of general staff following the
death of the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, in 1998, Akhigbe,
who hailed from Edo State, was the Chief of Naval Staff.
After his retirement from the navy he went to read law and became an
attorney with specialisation in Maritime and Real Estate Law.
He was a seasoned businessman with substantial interests in real estate.
During his military career that spanned several decades, he was the
Principal Welfare Officer of the Nigerian Navy Flagship NNS Aradu,
military governor of Lagos and Ondo States, Director at the Naval
Headquarters and Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command.
Akhigbe attended the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Royal Naval
School of Maritime Operations Dryad, Southwick the United Kingdom,
Command and Staff College Jaji, National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru and University of Poitiers, Rouan,
France