BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
OWERRI— Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has said the demise of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu has created a huge vacuum that would be very difficult to fill.

Chairman, Imo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Chief Fidel Onyeneke, also described Ojukwu’s death as “a big blow to Nigeria and a total loss to Igbo race, especially as he brought honour and dignity to the Igboman.”

Okorocha and Onyeneke, who were reacting to the news of Ojukwu’s death, were also of the view that Igbos and Nigeria had lost a true leader.

Okorocha said: “Ojukwu’s death has created a big vacuum in the South-East and Nigeria, having fought for the emancipation of Ndigbo, as well as against injustice wherever it reared its ugly head.”

Onyeneke was of the view that journalists will eternally miss Ojukwu because he was a veritable source of news any day and anywhere, adding that he was fearless in speaking against societal vices.

Senator Annie Okonkwo described news of Ojukwu’s passage  as a sad national tragedy and a personal trauma.

A statement, weekend, by Mr. Collins Ugwu, Special Assistant, Media, to the senator, said it was human for every Igbo man to expect that their authentic hero who was born into exceptional affluence and equipped with the finest brilliance should live much longer for them.

He said: “This unrivalled soldier of courage and sacrifice led his people easily with a rare evocative stamina and a spellbinding charisma defined in equity and fairness for a better Nigeria.”

“He was a true soldier who survived a war and exile, triumphed in politics and above all conquered love in its purest form and shape.

Nigeria has lost a nationalist and Ndigbo has lost their best and bravest. The Iroko has indeed fallen and the forest is without shadows.”