…Flag to fly half-mast for 3 days

…Clark, Amosun, Al-makura, Labour, others mourn

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said  the Federal Government would immortalise the country’s first Executive President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who died last Friday.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 29, 2015 former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari arrives to attend the inauguration of new Nigerian President at the Eagles Square in Abuja, on May 29, 2015. – Former Nigerian president Shehu Shagari, who was in power between 1979 and 1983, died on December 28, 2018, aged 93, the country’s current president said. Shagari, a Fulani Muslim from Nigeria’s northwest, became the country’s first executive president with full, rather than ceremonial, powers when the country introduced a US-style system in 1979. (Photo by AFP)

This came as the President directed that flags should fly at half-mast in military and paramilitary formations, as well as public buildings for three days, commencing from yesterday.

Obaseki urges love, support, unity among Nigerians

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, disclosed that President Buhari said this in Sokoto when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late former leader.

A letter to  Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, read by the governor at the event, the President stated: “I received the very sad news of the passing away of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, former President of  Nigeria.

“This, indeed, is a grievous loss, which will be felt throughout Nigeria, irrespective of any difference. The late Alhaji Shagari was a landmark figure being virtually our last link to the post-independence government of Alhaji Tafawa Balewa and Nigeria’s first elected executive President.

“Please convey to his immediate family, the government and the people of Sokoto State my heartfelt condolences on the passing away of this great statesman.

“The Federal Government will in due course institute a suitable memorial to the late former President.”

Insecurity: FG should stop insurgents from passing through borders — SSANU

Similarly, Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Almakura described the death of the former President as a monumental loss to the country.

Almkura, in a statement issued by his Director, Communications Strategy and Press Affairs, Yakubu  Laimai, regretted the demise of the former  President.

On his part, an elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark described Shagari, as a man of integrity, and peace, who was well loved by the people.

In a statement yesterday, Clark also described the late Shagari as a simple, and unassuming, who was not swayed by the top positions he held.

Former Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur expressed sadness over Shagari’s demise, describing him as a humble and remarkable political leader.

Also paying tributes to the late President, the organised labour  said the country would have been industrialised if   Shagari’s government had not been sacked in a coup led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

A statement by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the late Shagari signed into law the National Minimum Wage Act of 1981 that provided for a new national minimum wage of N125 which was equivalent to about $200.

2019: I may pick Donald Duke as running mate, says Gana

Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi,  described the death of   Shagari, as a painful exit of a selfless statesman whose simple lifestyle is worthy of emulation.