Ohanaeze Ndigbo mourns Ex-NIMASA boss, Agu
Condolence
By Alex Enebeli
Enugu, June 8, 2024 (NAN) The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has mourned the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Maritime Authority, now Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ferdinand Agu, who died on Friday.
The National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, conveyed the group’s condolences in a statement issued on Saturday and made available to newsmen in Enugu on Monday.
Ogbonnia stated that the organisation “received with a rude shock, the sad news of the tragic passing of yet another Igbo prodigy, Agu”.
He described Agu as “an exceptional moral edifice, an outstanding man among men, a vivacious exemplar, orator and mobile encyclopedia”.
He further stated that Agu was former Secretary, Ohanaeze Committee on Planning and Strategy; former member, Ohanaeze Committee on Diaspora; former Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria; former Chairman of the Governing Council and Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Oturkpo.
“Ferdy, as he was fondly called by his peers, was a thorough-bred Igbo, with immense patriotic zeal for a restructured Nigeria.
“He worked closely with Prof. Charles Soludo to produce the Ohanaeze document for the restructuring of the Nigerian Federation, which was presented to the public on May 21, 2018 at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka.
“When it mattered most, the Ferdy social skill was sought in conducting the election that produced the Late Prof. George Obiozor as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo at Owerri,” Ogbonnia added.
According to him, in the clamour to develop the Igboland, Agu worked closely with a renowned economist, Prof. Osita Ogbu, to develop a template that, if implemented, would transform Igboland to a self-sustaining economy.
Ogbonnia added that the likes of Agu, an architect, “are very scarce to find, owing to his amazing public relations; character comeliness; marital exemplariness; oratorical skill; political sagacity and dispositional humility”.
He added that the group’s President-General, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, “could not withhold his sorrow when he heard the sad news”.
He also stated that Iwuanyanwu was devastated “over the loss of another Igbo genius.
“He lamented that Nigeria could not tap or harness the enormous resource reservoir in Agu, before he passed on,” Ogbonnia stated.
He conveyed the condolences of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to the bereaved family, especially Agu’s wife, children, his aged mother, siblings; the Obinagu Udi Community and the people of Enugu State “over the irreparable loss”.
“While we pray that the Almighty God will grant the soul of Agu an eternal rest in his bosom, we urge the bereaved to accept with serenity the things we cannot change,” he stated. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
AAE/FON/USO
Edited by Florence Onuegbu/Sam Oditah
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