The Uburu Community, in Ohaozara Local Council, Ebonyi State, was, yesterday, thrown into mourning over the death of the immediate past Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu. He was 72.
Although no official comment has been made by the family on the cause of Onu’s death, the ex-minister was said to have died after a protracted illness. A family source in Uburu, who preferred anonymity, told The Guardian: “It is very sad but true.
“He is one of the very bright lights of Ndigbo. Dr. Onu died this morning. May his gentle soul find peace in the bosom of the Lord God Almighty. May God grant us all the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”
Onu, the former Governor of the old Abia State, contested for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections. He was elected governor of Abia State in 1992 and served till the late Sani Abacha overthrew Ernest Shonekan’s interim administration in 1994.
Meanwhile, a former Minister of Communications, Barton Adebayo Shittu, yesterday, expressed sadness over the death of the late ex-minister. Shittu and Onu served in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Speaking with The Guardian in Ibadan, Shittu said that Nigeria had lost a dutiful and committed patriot. He noted that it was very unfortunate that Onu would depart the earth at this time. The Communications Minister prayed that God gives the Onus the fortitude to bear the loss.
Also, President Bola Tinubu has extended condolences to the Onu family. The President described Onu as a “luminous star” in Nigeria’s political firmament.
Grieving the late Onu in a statement signed by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu noted that the first civilian governor of Abia State and former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, was a principal draughtsman in the founding of APC, as well as a valiant partner in the victory of the party in the 2015 elections.
He also described the late Onu as an “accomplished scholar, first-class engineer; a man of proven integrity; defiant to indiscipline, but ever yielding to the highest standards of rectitude.
