..Promises to immortalise him
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has expressed shock and grief over the death of the first Civilian Governor of the Old Abia State, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu.
Otti who described Onu’s death as “a huge loss to Abia State, Ebonyi State, the Igbo nation and Nigeria as a whole,” promised to immortalise him.
The Governor in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, said Onu was a statesman who lived an honest life devoid of dubiousness.
He said: “Onu was one of such living statesmen with the character, carriage and statesmanly disposition required to reposition the nation for the better.”
The statement further read: “Dr Ogbonnaya was a gentleman and statesman with rich experience and wealth of knowledge, and was very outstanding in his character, comportment and engagements.
“Even though he held public offices both as a Governor and Minister respectively at difficult times, he was never associated with conducts or controversies capable of diminishing his reputation and personality.
“We are therefore, saddened by his demise at a time his statesmanly contributions and interventions were needed in Nigeria,” Otti lamented.
Otti promised that Abia would honour and immortalise the former Governor by ensuring that “the democratic journey he started in Abia as a Civilian Governor many years ago is advanced to a level where the welfare and well-being of Abians would be made an institutionalised priority at all times.”
The Governor urged “today’s politicians to emulate Onu’s model of decency, decorum and contentment in public service as a way of ensuring sanity in our body politic.”
Otti, on behalf of his family, the Government and people of Abia State, condoled with the Onu family, the Government and people of Ebonyi State, and the Federal Government of Nigeria over the loss of the elder statesman.
The Governor prayed God to grant Onu’s soul eternal repose in his bosom, and his family, the fortitude to bear the loss.
