Senator Austin Akobundu (Abia Central) has tasked Nigerians with honouring the country’s patriots while they are still alive, adding that such an attitude will encourage citizens to aspire to serve the country better with zeal.
Akobundu gave the charge when he spoke to LEADERSHIP on the sideline of the 80th birthday celebration of a former secretary of the state government (SSG), Eme Okoro in the capital, Umuahia.
“The need to honour citizens like Eme Okoro for their monumental contributions to the development of the country cannot be overemphasized especially while they are still a live,” said the retired Army colonel.
He described Okoro as a friendly, thorough-bread politician and administrator as well as an authority in agriculture “through which he contributed positively to the development of the country”.
The senator prayed for God’s protection of the “proponent of increased cassava revolution in Nigeria as he ages gracefully, his wife, Lady Joy, their children, and the entire Okoro family at large”.
At the event, Governor Alex Otti congratulated Okoro, adding that his administration is irrevocably committed to ensuring the welfare of every resident of the state.
In a remark, Adulphus Wabara, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party and a former Senate president, said Okoro had served humanity meritoriously and deserved the celebration.
According to the first chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Onyema Ugochukwu, Okoro had never been found wanting in any given responsibility and wished him more prosperous years.
Contributing, Akobundu’s colleague at the National Assembly, Enyinnaya Abaraibe (Abia South), said the former SSG’s life has been full of positive impacts and lauded him “for his great wisdom and sense of humour”
Responding, Okoro appreciated God “for spearing my life and the grace to attain four scores” and his friends and well-wishers for organising the occasion and wished them well too.
The one-time programme manager of the state Agric Development Programme, expressed his readiness to continue to serve “Nde Bende, Abia State, Nigeria, and humanity in general”.
