Ojukwu: Orji Inaugurates 13-Man Burial Committee

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, has inaugurated a 13-man state burial committee for the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Orji said during the ceremony in Umuahia that the committee would be responsible for organising activities to mourn the deceased, whom he noted, had contributed “immensely” to the development of the South-East region.

Ojukwu died in a London hospital on November 26, 2011, and his burial has been slated on February 2 at his home town, Nnewi in Anambra State.

The governor said that the state’s participation in the burial ceremony was aimed at paying respect to the departed Igbo leader, “whose legacies will endure even in death”.

“Ojukwu left the legacy that an Igbo man should be respected for wherever you come in contact with him.

“He left the legacy of a Messiah who led the people out of bondage. He lived like a hero and a hero must be respected even in death.’’

Orji also said that the respect and outpouring of emotions since his death was an indication of his selflessness in life, and advised people to always be compassionate over the plight of others.

He urged people of the state to cooperate with the committee, explaining that the “ respect being accorded to Ojukwu was because of his status as an Igbo leader not as an APGA chief’’.

Responding, the committee Chairman, Prof Josiah Ogbonnaya, thanked the governor for the opportunity given them to serve, and pledged that the committee would be diligent in the discharge of its assignment.

In another development, some Abia indigenes have commended President Goodluck Jonathan for reducing the pump price of petrol from N141 to N97 per litre.

Some of those, who spoke to newsmen in Umuahia, on Tuesday, described Jonathan “as a listening and humble president”.

The state Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP) Chief Cassidy Agbai, told newsmen on telephone that the president “clearly demonstrated that he has a feeling for the masses.

He, however, said that the president’s pronouncement “ought to have come before now,” adding that the protests and nationwide strike by labour and civil society organisations would have been averted.

Agbai also commended labour for its doggedness, adding that Nigerian workers had proved that they should not be taken for granted.

He urged labour and civil society organisations in the country to intensify their fight against corruption, saying that “corruption is the nation’s greatest problem.”

A former member of Abia State House of Assembly, Mrs Blessing Azuru, and her counterpart in the old Imo, Chief Victoria Akanwa, described Jonathan as a well-meaning person.