Harris Eghagha

Who is Harris Eghagha?

Brigadier General Harris Otadafevwerha Deodemise Eghagha was appointed Military Governor of Ogun State, Nigeria from July 1978 to October 1979 during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, handing over power to the elected governor Olabisi Onabanjo at the start of the Nigerian Second Republic.

Eghagha was born on 8 March 1934 in Mureje, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State.

Eghagha played a minor role in the January 1966 coup that overthrew the Nigerian First Republic and brought in the military regime of Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, as a second lieutenant in charge of a roadblock in Kaduna. His achievements while governor of Ogun State included building the legislative quarters and the road network in Abeokuta, the state capital. He built and commissioned the Ogun State Hotel, Abeokuta, established industrial estates throughout the State and founded the Ogun State Polytechnic in Abeokuta. He also served as Acting Governor of Sokoto and Kwara States, and was Nigeria's High Commissioner to Ghana.

Brigadier Harris Eghagha died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital on 19 March 2009, aged 75.