The Abia State government has renamed its Polytechnic in Aba after the first democratically elected governor of the state, late Dr Ogbonnaya Onu.
The State governor, Alex Otti, announced this on Thursday in a tribute he presented at a commendation service held in honour of the late governor and former Minister of Science and Technology in Umuahia, the state capital.
“Dr Onu’s greatness goes beyond his remarkable run in politics, which offered him the platform to serve as the first democratically-elected governor of our dear state,” he said.
He eulogised Onu for having been a minister, national chairman of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), a founding member, national leader and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and a voice of conscience in very difficult moments.
“As outstanding as his services and contributions to national development are, his enduring value for me would be in his humble disposition to life, an understanding that there is great power in being graceful, especially when we suffer personal setbacks,” Governor Otti stated.
Delivering a sermon at the service, the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Most Rev. Michael Ukpong, noted that Onu contributed very much to the development of the country.
“Onu is not dead because he left indellible marks in the state, such as the establishment of the BCA Radio/TV, tertiary institutions, and the Abia Tower of Peace, which is the symbol of the state,” he added
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu was elected governor of Old Abia State during the aborted Third Republic from January 1992 to December 1993 on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC).
The Ebonyi State-born late university teacher, first-class chemical engineer, and minister in the cabinet of the immediate-past President Muhammadu Buhari administration, died on April 11, 2024, at 72.
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