President Goodluck Jonathan has received with much sadness and “a deep feeling of great national loss’’ news of the passing away of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in the United Kingdom.
A statement issued by his spokesman, Reuben Abati, in Abuja on Saturday said President Jonathan joined Chief Ojukwu’s family, the government and people of his home state, Anambra, the entire Igbo people of Nigeria and his friends, associates and followers across the country in mourning him.
The president urged them to be comforted by the knowledge that “Chief Ojukwu lived a most fulfilled life, and has in passing on, left behind a record of very notable contributions to the evolution of modern Nigeria which will assure his place in the history of the country.’’
The statement said Jonathan believed that late Chief Ojukwu’s immense love for his people, justice, equity and fairness forced him into the leading role he played in the Nigerian civil war.
He commended the departed’s commitment to reconciliation and the full reintegration of his people into a united and progressive Nigeria in the aftermath of the war.
These, qualities, he said, would ensure that he was remembered forever as one of the great personalities of his time who stood out easily as a brave, courageous, fearless, erudite and charismatic leader.
The president called on Chief Ojukwu’s family, his associates and followers to make his rites of passage a celebration of his most worthy and memorable life spent in the service of his people and of the nation.
He prayed that God would grant Chief Ojukwu’s soul eternal rest from his earthly labours.