*Osinbajo, Okonjo-Iweala, Zainab Ahmed, Lai Mohammed, Adebayo, Onyeama, Yusuf Bichi, Shehu Malami, Kuru, Secondus, others condole with THISDAY/Arise Chairman
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The funeral ceremony for the matriarch of the Obaigbena family and a Princess of Owa Kingdom in Delta State, Margaret Obaigbena, who passed last week has been scheduled for August 19 and 20, 2022.
The funeral ceremony would take place in Owa Kingdom in Delta State, according to the Royal family of Owa Kingdom.
However, more eminent Nigerians, led by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, have continued to send condolence messages to the Chairman of THISDAY/ARISE Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, commiserating with him and his family over their mother’s passing.
Other personalities that condoled with the immediate past president of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) were the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Founder of the FCMB Group, Chief Subomi Balogun; Oba Otudeko; Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama; his Information and Culture Counterpart, Lai Mohammed; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, and the Chief Executive Officer, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru.
Others were Shehu Malami- on behalf of descendants of Othman Dan Fodio of whom he is the eldest; Senator Ben Bruce, Guy Murray Bruce; the Director General, Department of State Security (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Uche Secondus.
Bichi in his condolence message wrote: “My dear brother I have been unable to reach you since I received the news of the demise of mama. Please accept my most sincere condolence and may her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Let me use this medium to on behalf of myself and the entire staff of the DSS register our condolence over the death of our mama and we pray that God gives you the fortitude to bear the loss. Amen, thanks and remain blessed.”
On his part, Secondus in a message to the media mogul said he got the news as a huge loss, “given the utility counsel that had always come from her to you as a loving mother.”
“I join your family, friends and well-wishers in sharing in your pains and pray that Mama’s soul rests in the bosom of her creator.
“I also urge you and the rest of the family to be consoled to the fact that she left behind huge blessings and legacies that includes you and other great siblings who are making enormous impact in the society.
“Death, no matter how and when it comes is always a painful experience, more so when it happens with a beloved and close mother like Princess Obaigbena,” he added.
Furthermore, the condolence letter read: “We have every reason however to thank God that she lived a reasonable age of 88 years and we should also praise the almighty for the huge blessings that enabled her leave behind great and outstanding achievements.”
Secondus prayed that the good lord would grant the Obaigbena royal family the fortitude to bear the huge loss.
