In a statement issued
yesterday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,
Garba Shehu, the president said he received the death of Maduekwe, who also
served as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Canada, with profound sadness.
President Muhammadu Buhari
has commiserated with the families, governments and people of Abia, Delta and
Rivers States on the deaths of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo
Maduekwe, retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Niki Tobi and literary icon,
Elechi Amadi.
President Buhari recalled
that in all his years of service to Nigeria as a diplomat, minister, politician
and ambassador, Maduekwe was an ardent believer in the unity of Nigeria and
gave all to that pursuit.
As Foreign Affairs
Minister, President Buhari said Maduekwe’s relentless call for citizen
diplomacy and Nigerians to be treated with dignity across the globe would
continue to inspire other patriotic people to promote a positive international
image of the country.
The president also paid
tribute to eminent jurist, Justice Tobi, describing him as a brave jurist who
served Nigeria creditably and brought his many years of training, knowledge and
wisdom to the Bench.
In the same vein, Buhari
joined the literary and academic community in mourning the passing of Amadi,
who he said introduced many generations of the world to the vibrant Nigerian
culture through his writings and postulations as a novelist, poet and
playwright of repute.
It would be recalled that
Justice Tobi died early hours of Friday, June 24 at the National Hospital,
Abuja, a month to his 76th birthday; Amadi also passed away on Wednesday, June
29 at a hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State at the age of 82 while Maduekwe
slumped in a vehicle on Wednesday while coming from the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja, and was rushed to a hospital where he was
pronounced dead at the age of 71.
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