Dennis Chukwude Osadebay was a remarkable man, he was the Igbo man who became the first and only Premier of the old Midwest Region.

Born in 1911, he attended Government School Asaba and Hopewadell Training Institute, Calabar, before becoming a Customs officer in Lagos. He later proceeded to England to study Law

In 1939, he became General secretary of the Igbo State Union and a member of the NCNC party, on which platform he won a seat to Western House Of Assembly

Osadebay and others were at the forefront of the agitation for non-Yoruba elements to have a seperate Region from the Western Region, and this was achieved in 1963 with the creation of the Midwest Region.

Osadebay became the first and only Premier of the Midwest Region until 1966 when the first military coup removed him from office

Subsequently, the Regime of Lt Colonel Gowon abolished the Midwest Region and replaced it with Bendel State

After the civil war, Osadebay returned to his Law practice, however, he and others formed the Igbo National Assembly(INA), which later changed its name to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural and political organ of the Igbo nation

Osadabay died in his native Asaba, capital of Delta State, in 1994, aged 83.

Mid western state was the only subnational entity in Nigeria created through a referendum.