The apex Igbo cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has eugolised the late Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, the first aviation minister who died on Tuesday after a brief illness at the age of 93.
In a condolence message signed by the spokesperson of Ohaneze, Alex Ogbonnia, it described the elder statesman as a nationalist and quintessential titan, icon and trail blazer.
Ogbonnia noted that Amaechi, a former parliamentarian, spent his youth in the fight for Nigeria’s independence in the process of which he was severally arrested and detained by the colonial authorities.
“This is a tribute to a rare courage, uncompromising principle, sacrifice, stoic heroism, patriotic dispositions and extra-ordinary faith in the struggle for Nigerian independence.
“These attributes earned Amaechi the Member of the Parliament at a very young age of 29, parliamentary Secretary and subsequently the Minister of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the First Republic,” he said.
Orange extolled Amaechi ‘s eloquence and his efforts, both in youth and at old age, despite his failing health, to proffer solutions to challenges of national and continental and global concern.
