The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities has described the death of its Chairman, Emeritus Professor Nimi Dimgba Briggs, as a great loss.
In a statement on Friday, Alternate Chairman of the Committee and Pro-Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University Yola, Bashir Dalhatu SAN, said the deceased was an outstanding intellectual, a Scholar-practitioner, public servant, statesman and a highly-valued citizen of the of Nigeria.
Dalhatu noted that the late Prof. Briggs was a complete gentleman, a family man and a man of deep thought and vision.
Briggs was chairman of the Federal Government team saddled with the task of renegotiating the 2009 FG/ ASUU agreement.
“His footprints in medicine, in general, and in public and private lives are timeless. His service to our country, Africa, and the rest of the world will continue to remind us of this great man,” the statement said.
While thanking God for the deceased’s fulfilled life, Dalhatu prayed that his soul be granted everlasting life and his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
In a related statement, the Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof Samuel Edoumiekumo, also eulogised the late Briggs as a strong pillar of the Nigerian University System (NUS) who contributed over 50 years of unbroken service to the NUS.
Edoumiekumo noted that long after his retirement from active academics, Briggs was still serving the system as pro-Chancellor to two Universities and a member of the National Universities Commission Advisory Committee.
He noted that Nigeria had lost a strong pillar in the academic community.
He prayed to God to grant his widow, lady Datta Briggs, his children and grandchildren, the good people of Abonnema and Rivers State the fortitude to bear the loss.