By Joan Nwagwu
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has described the death of the foremost elder statesman, consummate diplomat and orator, Alhaji Maitama Sule as a monumental loss to Nigeria.
Ngige said this in a statement signed by Mr Nwachukwu Obidiwe, Senior Special Assistant Media to the Minister of Labour and Employment.
Sule died at the early hours of Monday in a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, at 87.
According to him, Maitama Sule was a colossus whose life and time is a book, a must-read for all Nigerians interested in building a great nation.
“He zealously loved Nigeria and left worthy examples for the present and future generations to build on.
“As Minister of Mines and Power in the First Republic, Maitama Sule developed the blueprint that would make Nigeria a truly independent and self-reliant nation, taking bumper advantage of the abundant natural endowments in that critical sector.
“And as Nigeria’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, heading the world body’s committee on Apartheid in the second Republic, Sule’s formidable representation.
“That strengthened the huge shoulders of Nigeria as the fulcrum in the rallying cry against apartheid.
“The future generations of Nigeria will read in history, the oratory in Maitama Sule that reverberated across national climes and cleavages, ” he said.
Ngige said that the present and future generations would sorely missed the repository of knowledge, whose finger tips snap with the ancient and modern political history of Nigeria, even at old age.
The minister while recalling a nostalgia experience with the late Sule on March 23, 2017 in Kano during a heart to heart discussion with the fallen legend, noted that his memory was a flash, and his touch on issues, mercurial.
He said that Nigeria has indeed lost a colossus, while expressing his condolences to the family, government and the entire nation.(NAN)
