Former Senate President in the Second Republic, Joseph Wayas, is dead.
He died at the age of 80 in a London hopsital on Tuesday.
Wayas was born May 21, 1941.
He served as Nigeria’s senate president between 1979 and 1983.
The politician’s demise was confirmed by the Special Adviser to the Cross River governor on media and publicity, Christian Ita, on Tuesday.
Ita qouted Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade as saying Wayas’ death is a “monumental loss” to the state and Nigeria.
The governor said Wayas left “indelible footprints on the sands of time.”
He was born on May 21, 1941, in Basang, Obudu, Cross River State.
Wayas served as Nigeria’s third Senate President during the Nigerian Second Republic, 1979 to 1983.
He was a founding member of the now-defunct All People’s Party. He later joined the opposition People’s Democratic Party in 2002.
He attended the Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, after which he proceeded to the United Kingdom where he studied at the Higher Tottenham Technical College, London, the West Bronwich College of Commerce, Science and Technology, Birmingham, and Aston University, Birmingham.
He returned to Nigeria and worked as a manager or controller from 1960-1969 for several companies in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
Wayas joined the Federal Government in 1969-72. He was commissioner for Transport, South-Eastern State, now broken into Akwa Ibom and Cross River states from 1972-74.
He was a member of the constituent Assembly in 1977-78.
Wayas is a member of the Society of International Affairs at Lincoln University, United States.
Governor Ayade said” “As Senate President, Dr Wayas contributed to the deepening of Nigeria’s democratic ethos through his robust and vibrant leadership of the upper legislative chamber.
