By Deji Elumoye
President Muhammadu Buhari has described the demise of the former Minister of Information and Culture, Prince Tony Momoh, as a great loss to human kind.
The president, in a message delivered on his behalf in Abuja by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who led a federal government delegation to the bereaved family, said the deceased will be missed by many people.
In a statement in Abuja yesterday by his media assistant, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari said: “We have lost a dear friend, a great Nigerian, a true patriot and a philanthropist. We have lost a valuable member of the human community. But he has left tremendous footprints. He has been a politician, a writer, a publisher and also a party man with a conscience and a servant of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a Minister.
“He introduced many reforms in the ministry, introduced direct communication with people of Nigeria on issues in a patriotic and dispassionate manner, always putting the interest of Nigeria above everything else.”
Buhari stated that Momoh would be greatly missed by the family and many others whose lives he touched as a publisher, writer and statesman.
He prayed that almighty God will receive him back in heaven as one of his favourite servants here on earth, and grant the family the fortitude to bear the huge loss.
On the Chief of Staff’s entourage were the Caretaker Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor of Yobe State, Mr. Mala Buni; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of State for Environment, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Shehu.
On hand to receive the delegation were the widow, Jane; son, Rasheed, and sister, Justice Constance Momoh.
They expressed appreciation to the president for sending such a delegation and urged him to immortalise the deceased.
