By Victor Ahiuma-Young, Festus Ahon

More eminent Nigerians have continued to pay tributes to the former Foreign Affairs  Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe who died Wednesday at the age of 71.  Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in his tributes yesterday described late  Maduekwe’s death as a big loss to the diplomatic community and Nigeria. Anyaoku who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria on the sidelines of the celebration of the 240th Independence Anniversary of the U.S. in Lagos, said ‘’Ojo’s sudden death is shocking and most unexpected. Ojo really achieved distinction in combining distinctions in local Nigerian politics and in foreign affairs. ‘’Ojo was the Secretary of his party, the PDP and its Board of Trustees. He was also a Foreign Minister of this country, and in that capacity introduced the policy of Citizen Diplomacy.

Maduekwe..

‘’I think that Nigeria has lost a true patriot, who throughout his career had always strived to give his best to his fatherland,” he said. Anyaoku recalled the role the late Maduekwe played in supporting him when he led the Presidential Delegation to President Barack Obama’s first inauguration ceremony in the U.S. The former Commonwealth scribe also recalled the inspiring interactions he had had with Maduekwe when he was on the Presidential Advisory Body on International Relations.

In his own tribute, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said late Madueke was  brutally frank and gave his best to the nation.  Ngige in a statement through Prince Samuel Olowokere, Deputy Director, Press, Ministry of Labour and Employment, said: “Nigeria has lost a brilliant technocratic and a hardworking politician who was philosophical in thinking and logical in disposition. Ojo was sophisticated in knowledge and brutally frank, but devoid of intellectual arrogance. Such a genre is often uncommon among the political class; hence, he was often misunderstood. But he gave his best to the nation, having served her as the Minister of Culture and Tourism and at another time, Minister of Transport, and later, the Ambassador to Canada.

Similarly, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described late Chief Ojo Maduekwe as “a patriot who displayed uncommon passion and zest in the service of the nation”. In a condolence letter he personally delivered to the wife of Maduekwe in Abuja, Mohammed expressed shock and sadness at the sudden death of the former minister.