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Tag: Ekwueme

  • Ekwueme was a Good, Exemplary Nigerian – Obi, Nwosu, Ogbeh, Orji

    The former Gov. of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has described the former Vice President, Late Dr. Alex Ekwueme as a good Nigerian, who showed us example through his commitment to Nation- building.

    Obi, who accompanied his mortal remains from U.K yesterday spoke during the brief ceremonies  at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. Describing Ekwueme as a father, Obi said that “the best way to preserve his memories  is through good governance along his lofty dreams of peace and development anchored on justice and equity, which he pursued with adamantine consistency.”

    Similarly, the former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu said that Dr. Ekwueme, until his last breath, remained a thoroughbred professional, focused politician,  committed patriot and worthy statesman. He prayed to God to grant him eternal rest.

    On the part of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Ekwueme was a true father and a patriot.

    Collaborating the foregoing, the former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji described Ekwueme as one politician that had the interest of the country at heart and remained focused and consistent on that.

    The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh( middle), flanked by fmr Gov. Peter Obi( left), and Fmr. Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu, during the brief burial ceremonies of Late Dr. Alex Ekwueme at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, yesterday.

     

  • Ekwueme an outstanding patriot

    Ekwueme an outstanding patriot

    Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was a man of destiny who exemplified the best of Nigeria.  A child of humble beginnings in Oko, Anambra State, through the dint of hard work, love of country and his innate sense of dignity and decorum, Alex Ekwueme became a consummate statesman and visionary.

    Dr. Ekwue me was blessed by God with a superb and versatile intellect.  He earned degrees in such varied disciplines as Architecture, Sociology, Philosophy, History and Law.

    That he learned and knew so much made him a most rare and skilled individual. That he would devote this wealth of knowledge and learning to the betterment of the people of this nation made him great. He was as outstanding a patriot as any man could be. His sense of humanity was palpable.  There was no mean bone is his body. There was no malice in his speech. There was no evil in his deeds. He acted in the best of our traditions but also with a unifying and positive vision for the future.

    Despite his exemplary skills, Alex Ekwueme moved about with great humility of spirit and singular modesty. He never sang his own praise. But his record of act spoke louder than words. Accompanying his soft-spoken demeanor was a drive to achieve and a belief in personal and national excellence. Thus, this renaissance man broke ground by becoming the first architect in the country and by establishing the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria. His skill can still be witnessed in much of the architectural landscapes of this country.

    Dr. Ekwueme had made his mark in the social and educational development in this nation long before he became the Vice President of Nigeria in 1979. He started an Educational Trust Fund responsible for sponsoring the education of many youths to universities in Nigeria and abroad. At the national level, Dr. Ekwueme was a member of the housing sub-committee of the Adebo Salaries and Wages Review Commission.

    Yet it was on the national stage that he made his greatest contribution and the example he set would have a profoundly salutary effect on many aspiring public servants including me. Because of his outstanding personality traits and his broad expertise, he was nominated as the running mate for Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the 1979 presidential election.

    As vice president, he showed himself to be an invaluable asset in governance of the nation. He was loyal to his boss and most importantly was ever faithful to the nation. He was genuinely concerned about bringing about a better Nigeria. His time and energy were geared towards nationalistic issues. He was always at the forefront of efforts to resolve problems. His deep intellectual interventions often helped the country navigate through critical periods and troubled times.

    Those of us who cherish democracy and those of us who celebrate the end of military rule in Nigeria must never forget that it was this soft-spoken man who mobilised the group of 34 eminent Nigerians that would put at risk their very lives and livelihoods to confront the oppressive Abacha dictatorship.

    The G.34 would later form the basis of the Peoples Democratic Party and Dr. Ekwueme was the founding Chairman of that party. I do not intend to delve into partisanship on this occasion but suffice it to say that had Dr. Ekwueme been allowed to play his proper and rightful role in the party he helped create, Nigeria would be a better place.

    I have always admired Dr. Ekwueme even though our political paths diverged. I became close to him when I was Lagos State governor. In 2002, I helped put together a 70th birthday celebration for him. Chief Ekwueme was a son of Lagos in many ways. He attended Kings College, Lagos. He lived in Lagos. Also, his architectural business flourished more in Lagos. As he was the pride of the people of Anambra, he was also our pride. He helped make Lagos a better place and his success in Lagos helped demonstrate that Lagos was a welcoming home to all Nigerians who wanted to achieve and contribute to our collective progress and purpose.

    One of the most memorable honours ever given me occurred in 2006 when I was conferred with the chieftaincy title of Eze Obalu-Dike Egwu, meaning the king who terrified the giant. This was done by his younger brother, Igwe (Prof.) Laz Ekwueme, the traditional ruler of Oko, and I believe it was done due to my close relationship with Dr. Ekwueme.  Here I must say I learned so much from Dr. Ekwueme. He was a fount of wisdom and I am still learning.

    At 85, the late Chief Ekwueme lived well. He was the finest of gentlemen and a loving family man. He served Nigeria so much better than it served him yet he never grumbled or complained. He was always willing to set at risk life and limb for a greater cause and a higher purpose.

    In a telling interview he granted to a leading Hausa newspaper, Rariya, he said: “My vision for Nigeria is that Nigeria should become a nation rather than a country. Ghana is a nation. The type of massacre of people from certain groups that takes place from time to time in Nigeria won’t happen in Ghana. You will not see people from Ashanti descending on the Fantis and the Ga and others and killing them as if they are not citizens of the same country. And when you talk to a Ghanaian, without being told you will see that he is talking as a Ghanaian but when you talk to a Nigerian, by and large it will not show that they are Nigerians first and foremost”.

    Dr. Ekwueme is no longer here to make his dream become our reality. We believe God has taken His son to a better home for a life well lived and a job well done. But the example and wisdom of Dr. Ekwueme belongs to all of us. We serve his memory well and serve our nation even better if we follow his example and make use of his wisdom.

    Dr. Ekwueme was a man for Nigeria and all Nigerians. He was what we all should strive to be. This man personified a better nation. May his good soul find eternal peace and rest well in the bosom of the Lord. I pray that God grant his family strength and grace at this time and that He grant our nation too good sense to never forget this man and what he represented.

    .Asiwaju Tinubu is a former Lagos State governor

     

     

  • Buhari signs Ekwueme’s condolence register

    Buhari signs Ekwueme’s condolence register

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday signed the condolence register of the late former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme.

    The brief ceremony held just before the commencement of the second day of Federal Executive Council meeting for the week.

    Ekwueme died in the United Kingdom on November 19. He was 85.

    The President did not make any remark at the signing ceremony.

    But his media office had earlier issued condolence statement to consoling Nigerians.

  • Ekwueme for burial Feb 2

    Ekwueme for burial Feb 2

    Former Vice President Dr Alex Ekwueme will be buried on February 2, 2018, in his Oko, Anambra State, country home.

    Funeral rites will start on January 19 with a memorial service at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos. It will be followed by tributes and music in the evening at Landmark, Oniru, Victoria Island.

    On January 27, a memorial service will be held at St. Marylebone Parish Church, London. Back home, an evening of tributes will hold on January 28 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Other events lined up include: Federal Government commendation ceremonies at Eagle Square, Abuja (January 29); Service of Songs at Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd, Enugu (January 30); South East Zone commendation service at  Okpara Square, Enugu (January 31).

    On February 1, the Anambra State commendation ceremony will hold at Ekwueme Square, Awka, to be followed by service of songs in Oko.

    The ceremony will be rounded up  on February 2 with lying-in-state and burial.

  • Ekwueme, Mugabe: Two contrasting exits

    Ekwueme, Mugabe: Two contrasting exits

    When former Vice President Alex Ekwueme passed on quietly on November 19 in a London clinic, the world, via cable TV, was following a strange drama unfolding in Zimbabwe on the southern tip of Africa.  Two days later, on November 21, the drama was essentially over, with the resignation of President Robert Mugabe.

    It was weird.

    After 37 years in power, 16-odd million Zimbabweans had come to terms with their grim fate: the old man would rather die in office than leave. Anyone who seriously coveted his seat regretted it. On November 6 Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mr Mugabe’s longtime ally and deputy with a dodgy past, was summarily sacked, and subsequently fled the country, amid claims that he was eyeing the president’s office.

    Mr Mnangagwa’s fate probably set the drama in motion. On November 14 the Zimbabwean army rolled out its tanks, placed Mr Mugabe under house arrest but would not call what it was doing a coup. The president was allowed a public appearance, though with a handful of security aides, at a university event, and would later give a bizarre speech in which he tried to maintain the facade that he was still in control of both the country and his party, ZANU-PF, both of which had clearly denounced him. Amid all this, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans were jubilating on the streets and hugging the same soldiers who had helped to keep the old man in power since 1980 when he led a successful uprising that ousted the white minority rulers of the country then called Rhodesia. On November 21 Mr Mugabe sent his letter of resignation to the parliament just before the lawmakers would impeach him as they promised. Mr Mnangagwa emerged from hiding and was sworn in to take Mr Mugabe’s office until next year when election is due.

    A nationwide gyration marked the end of Mr Mugabe’s political life and his iron-fist reign, a sad way to leave the scene, a lesson to all despots in Africa and the world. He and his scheming, ambitious wife Grace have obtained immunity from prosecution and will also keep what they called their personal properties, but the deposed despot will live out his days in ignominy. Enough said about the 93-year-old megalomaniac who once said Zimbabwe’s independence was procured with the gun, and whose departure Zimbabweans also procured with the gun.

    Dr Ekwueme did not fight the sort of battle that Mr Mugabe fought in the years leading up to 1980 but history will reserve its coziest living quarters for Dr Ekwueme, while leaving the dirtiest of rooms for Mr Mugabe. For at least a week after breathing his last, the former vice president had virtually every public figure singing his praise, hailing his good qualities and his accomplishments. It was not in mere adherence to the age-old practice of not speaking ill of the dead. Nigeria’s serving and retired leaders recalled he was a man of learning, with degrees in five fields, one of which architecture in which he took a doctorate. Dr Ekwueme’s mourners waxed lyrical on the subject of his cucumber-coolness and loyalty, pointing out that never did he betray his boss, President Shehu Shagari, with whom he served from 1979 to 1983 before the Buhari coup sacked them. Everyone sang of his patriotism, calling him a frontline nationalist. They said he was a firm believer in the unity of the country, and that he gave Nigeria the six geopolitical zones, an original restructuring masterstroke, that has stuck to this day, based on the principle of fair distribution of the nation’s resources. Many remembered that Dr Ekwueme was a man of peace, a few that he was also well-travelled, exposed and informed.

    Some said he left a pair of shoes too big to fill, and that his demise is a monumental loss to the country. The leadership of Ndigbo said Dr Ekwueme was a great leader of his people and an inspiration.

    Dr Ekwueme was probably a lot more than has been said of him, but it is about time Nigerians began to interrogate the sincerity of his mourners. From the picture they painted of him, Dr Ekwueme was probably one of the best presidents Nigeria never had, to borrow from the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who coined the phrase back in the 80s while mourning Chief Obafemi Awolowo. But if they saw that much good and promise in him, why was he denied the presidency of the country? He was clearly a better candidate when he ran against former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 at the primary stages of that election. Yet, he lost to the Owu chief, who went to on rule the country for eight years, and was also reported to be having some designs for another term before that ill-begotten project collapsed ignominiously.

    Ndigbo are now saying Dr Ekwueme was a rallying point in their zone, but how much have they learned from the master, and how much have they put to good use in their region? Are Ndigbo united in the true sense of the word? Do they really understand what regional unity means?

    Praising Dr Ekwueme in death and in such glowing terms brings to mind the typical Nigerian pastime of reserving their best for the funeral. The life of the average Nigerian is pretty much colourless until he dies. Then newspaper pages after pages and lengths of TV and radio airtime are bought up to announce his transition and interment. Finally, he appears in the most glittering casket money can buy, and is finally lowered to earth amid the loudest of party music, the best of food and the best of company on this side of the divide. How he lived or suffered before death is usually immaterial. It marks the hypocrisy of our time.

    How many in politics, and among those praising him today, are willing to emulate Dr Ekwueme? How many will play politics the way Dr Ekwueme played it? Though, hobbled with age, he remained with the Peoples Democratic Party, which he was credited with founding. In his home state Anambra, he supported Governor Willie Obiano’s reelection bid on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform even though his daughter was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deputy governorship candidate in the same election in the state. Responding to a reporter’s question, Dr Ekwueme would later say his daughter was old enough to take her own decisions. Such wisdom, such maturity, such openness.

    Dr  Ekwueme left a lot to love, Mr Mugabe a lot to regret.  Surely, mourners have a lot to ponder, don’t they?

  • Osinbajo visits Ekwueme’s family

    Osinbajo visits Ekwueme’s family

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday paid a condolence visit to the Abuja residence of the late former vice president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme.

    At Ekwueme’s home, the vice president met the deceased’s widow, Beatrice, and children – Mr. Obi Ekwueme, Mrs. Chidi Onyemelukwe and Mr. Ogo Ekwueme.

    He was accompanied to the late ex-vice president’s home by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige.

    Osinbajo, who arrived the house at 11.20 a.m., spent about 30 minutes with the family.

    Speaking to journalists after the visit, he said the late Ekwueme “stood out as someone who was detribalized and understood that we are greater together than apart.”

    According to him, the most important thing about the late former vice president was that he stood for unity of Nigeria.

    The vice president recalled the late Ekwueme’s role as the leader of the G-34 that confronted the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

    He said: “For someone who had no arms, had nothing, he was just a leader who stood out when everyone else seemed to be afraid of speaking up. I think for me that was one of the most poignant memories because really we owe a duty to our society to continue to empower ourselves and empower all others to ensure that it is better.”

    Ekwueme was Nigeria’s vice president during Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s administration from 1979 to 1983.

    He died in a London hospital on November 19.

  • Ekwueme: Varsities open condolence registers

    Ekwueme: Varsities open condolence registers

    St. Paul University, Awka, and Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, have opened condolence registers in honour Dr Alex Ekwueme, Nigeria’s first elected Vice President, who died in a London clinic on Nov. 19.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the late Ekwueme had been the Board of Trustees Chairman of the St. Paul University since its inception in 2009 and chancellor of EBSU until his death,

    Prof. Uche Isiugo-Abamihe, the Vice Chancellor, St. Paul University, said in his tribute that Ekwueme’s demise was a huge loss to the university community.

    The vice chancellor noted that Ekwueme had undertaken major capital projects in the university, ensuring that it met all requirements that would facilitate securing full accreditation by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC).

    Isiugo-Abamihe described Ekwueme as “irreplaceable and honourable chairman whose name would be written in gold in history of St. Paul university’’.

    “He was a patriot, a man of courage, a father and a trail blazer,’’ the vice chancellor stated, adding that his achievements would be built upon.

    Similarly, Chief Ikechukwu Abana, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, told NAN that the university had “lost a voice’’.

    According to him, Ekwueme, as BOT Chairman, was attracting personalities to sustain the university.

    A NAN correspondent who visited the university on Friday, reports that Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, a former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi and Acting Vice Chancellor of the university, was first to sign the condolence register opened late on Wednesday at EBSU after a management meeting.

    Similarly, Prof. Francis Idike, the immediate past Vice Chancellor, and other principal officers of the institution numbering about 16 have so far paid tribute to Ekwueme.

    His younger brother, Igwe Laz Ekwueme, who is also the traditional ruler of Oko in Anambra, had issued a statement announcing the former vice president’ s death.

    Read Also: Oko Poly wants FG to immortalise Ekwueme

  • Ekwueme: Philosopher and king; visionary and practician….

    To honour him whom we have made is far from honouring him that hath made us.” It was Michel de Montaigne, the 16th French philosopher and writer who wrote those magnificent words. I think and know Dr. Alex Ekwueme as one of those who hath made us.

    Those were my first response and words of acceptance of the request to me that I serve as keynote speaker at the August 24, 2012 international event celebrating 80 years of a great, impactful and purposeful life.

    Ide Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, born October 21, 1932, is both philosopher and king; visionary and practician; philanthropist and resourceful role model for millions.

    It remains a great privilege for me to appreciate Dr. Ekwueme — respectfully, to his face and esteemed presence.

    It is a continuation of my trans-generational commitment to appreciate and honour outstanding leaders and persons who continue to make a difference and inspire our commitments.

    What do I say when the man who is older enough to be my father?

    What do I say to a gentle giant whose signature humble personality and mild speaking style stands in contradistinction to the towering strings of Olympian, concrete achievements.

    Yes; I do know that Dr. Ekwueme, recipient of Nigeria’s high national award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), lived a quintessential embodiment of public service and living example of an individual — working in cooperation with his wife Mrs. Beatrice Ekwueme– engaged in strategic generosity for almost 45 years!!

    He established the first indigenous architectural firm in Nigeria, Ekwueme Associates, Architects and Town Planners, and improved the face of Nigeria.

    In the arena of politics, he will, forever, be remembered as the man who formally led, through his democratic election in 1979-1983 as Vice President of Nigeria, the most comprehensive reintegration of the Igbo into the geo-political and socio-economic pillars of power in the country.

    Set aside other fanciful claims of that period.

    I do know that VP Ekwueme used his appointment of Mark Okoye as Nigeria’s Minister for the Abuja Federal Capital (with the city then under construction) to empower thousands of the Igbo and other easterners who, today, have become key economic factors in Abuja. Remarkably, Ekwueme does not cite or brag about this critical role. He will not talk about it but I will.

    Again, he is one of those who hath made us.

    Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s philanthropy, relatively and in terms of community impact, compares to the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Gates, Mohameds, Bank-Anthonys, the Buffets, Annenbergs, Mosingers, Ilodibes and many other cheerful givers. More so, for me to capture the modest totality of Ide Alex Ekwueme’s meaningful life will require a special book.

    Dr. Ekwueme was, by no means, perfect; he also had issues where some disagreed strongly with him.

    Permit me to note that our Igbo and Yoruba nativist refuseniks and hardliners dismissed Ekwueme and others such as my mentor the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo who worked politically with the Sokoto caliphate, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the Kaduna ‘mafia’ and the northern Nigeria conservative leadership as “sell-outs.” Such arguments still feed some quarters as it did in 1979 through the 1980s.

    As a matter of fact in the early 1980s, while I was a very young staff of the Electronic News Gathering (E.N.G) unit of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 6, Aba, I joined in covering VP Ekwueme and President Shehu Shagari news events in our broadcast area which included the old Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa states.

    Let me note that Nigeria’s incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari toppled the democratically-elected presidency of Shehu Shagari and VP Ekwueme on December 31, 1983 when Buhari was an Army General; Buhari kept Ekwueme in jail and held Shagari in cordial house arrest.

    Ide Alex Ekwueme values education; got the best, and gave hundreds of scholarships. His own primary school started at St John’s Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, a few miles from his hometown of Oko; attended the prestigious King’s College, Lagos; showed such excellence he was given the U.S Fulbright Scholarship; 1955 admitted to the University of Washington where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in architecture and city planning; a Masters degree in urban planning; from the University of London, he excelled with degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law; from the University of Strathclyde his Ph.D. in architecture. A well-rounded intellectual, he continued to earn the Bachelor of Law degree from the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.

    At his 80th birthday, I said during my keynote presentation that: “Dr. Alex Ekwueme, you have planted human seeds through large scale scholarships and empowerment of Oko persons and other communities; many will thank you; may be a few will scorn you with their violent ingratitude that the sun and moon you showed them were not bright enough…. No matter what, Ide, your name and legacies are greater.”

    As a chronicler of history, ancient and modern, of current affairs and the business of power for the past 35 years of the Igbo nation, of Nigeria, of Africans and Americans, I can state without any concerns of contradiction that Dr. Alex Ekwueme is among the top 50 greatest Africans of the 20th century!

    Finally, I offer you the gift of the wise words of my Aro elders: Ide, may your lineage endure!!

     

    • Dr. Nwangwu, is the Founder & Publisher of Houston-based USAfrica multimedia network.
  • Adieu Ekwueme

    Adieu Ekwueme

    If there was a gentleman in politics, Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was the one. He was cut of a different cloth. He was not your typical Nigerian politician whose stock-in-trade is to line his pockets. To Ekwueme, Nigeria came first and he did everything to enhance the Nigerian project. He took to politics at a time it was not fashionable for professionals to play the game and he acquainted himself well. Meek and soft spoken, Ekwueme’s geniality was not weakness. Rather, it was munition for winning people over. Those who came across Ekwueme always spoke about how strong will he was once he had made up his mind on something. As simple as he was, he trod where angels feared to walk. In the Second Republic during which he served as vice president, he assisted President Shehu Shagari tremendously and shone like a star. He did not come into politics for what to eat. He came to serve and to make a difference. Ekwueme was a dove in the midst of the hawks that made up the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) on which crest he and Shagari came to power.

    His four-year tenure as vice president was enough to launch Dr Ekwueme to political limelight. His harsh experience in prison after the 1983 coup led by then Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari did not deter him from playing a prominent role in the nation’s political evolution on the return to democracy in 1999. He was among the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which held power between 1999 and 2015. But he would be remembered most for standing up to Gen Sani Abacha when many politicians were falling over themselves to endorse the dictator to transmute to civilian president and remain in office for life. Ekwueme and some like minds rejected Abacha outright. It still remains a miracle how he survived the Abacha horrendous years This great man passed away on Sunday in London during an illness. He was 85. Nigeria has lost a great man, the likes of who, are rare to see. Like all legend, his epitaph was written long before he died. Former Supreme Court Justice Samson Uwaifo whose tribunal tried him and Shagari after the 1983 coup said of him: “Dr Ekwueme “left office poorer than he was when he entered it, and to ask more from him was to set a standard which even saints could not meet”.

  • Senate urges FG to immortalise Ekwueme

    Senate urges FG to immortalise Ekwueme

    The Senate on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to immortalise the late former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, by naming the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, or other key federal institution or asset after him.

    This was sequel to a motion on “The Passing on of Former Vice President, Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (1932-2017)’’, sponsored by Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, at plenary.

    He noted that the late elder statesman was an intellectual giant and “consummate professional’’, who pioneered architecture in modern Nigeria and paid his dues to the social, economic, and political development of Nigeria.

    “The late Dr Alex Ekwueme was a bridge builder, patriot and pan-Nigerian, who played a major role in the post-war reconciliation process in Nigeria.

    “As Vice President of Nigeria, Ekwueme led exemplary life of unassailable probity and unimpeachable integrity, such that even the military tribunal that tried him during his 20-month detention after the 1984 coup discharged and acquitted him.

    “The tribunal also empathically stated that Ekwueme left office poorer than he was when he entered it, and to ask more from him was to set a standard, which even angels could not meet,” Ekweremadu said.

    He described Ekwueme as a legend, fearless soldier of democracy, who, among other efforts, mobilised 34 eminent Nigerians on the platform of G34 to demand an end to military rule and pushed for enthronement of democracy.

    Contributing, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP -Abia) said the fondest memory of late Ekwueme was that he remained the only former vice president that left office and still became poor.

    Also, Sen. Bala Na’Allah (APC- Kebbi) said though the deceased hailed from the South East, he was “a single Nigerian” who contributed immensely to Nigeria’s democracy and future of the country.

    Na’Allah, who is Deputy Leader of Senate, called for the immortalisation of the former vice president in view of his loyalty to former President Shehu Shagari, with a national institution in Sokoto State.

    In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said the death of Ekwueme was a great loss to Nigeria.

    “He was a great patriot, detribalised and simple person that put Nigeria first.

    “Ekwueme will be missed by all,” Saraki said.

    On a voice vote, the motion was unanimously adopted.

    Read Also: Rain of tributes for Ekwueme