FG to immortalize Ocholi
ABUJA—THE only surviving son of the late Minister of State
for Labour and Employment, Barrister Aaron Ocholi, has promised to retain all
the legacies of his father. Aaron Ocholi who is 25 years, according to family
sources, was saved from following his father to attend the Church service in
Kaduna due to an ankle injury he sustained while training on a football pitch.
He was on crutches at the time the father and some members of the family
embarked on the fatal trip. CONDOLENCE—Daughter of late James Ocholi, Ale and
son, Aaron Ocholi at the residence of the late Minister of State at Kado
Estate, Abuja, yesterday. Top Right: Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr.
Chris Ngige signing the condolence register for Late Ocholi.
Also yesterday, Deputy Governor of Yobe State, Abubakar Ali,
was involved in an auto accident along the Kaduna-Kano expressway but escaped
unhurt. Already, the Ocholi family house at 4 Daggash Street, Kado Estate,
Abuja, was a beehive of activities, yesterday, as ministers, lawmakers and
heads of agencies trooped to the residence to commiserate with the family. This
resulted in a traffic gridlock on all the roads leading to the family house at
Kado.
Speaking to the body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, that visited
the house, Aaron said he would not tamper with the legacy of his father and
will never sell his books and law firm, assuring the SANs that with them, he
would not derail. Speaking to Vanguard, a close friend of the late minister,
who was always regarded as his ‘twin’ brother by relatives, Tokunbo Obayan,
a.k.a. Toks, described Ocholi’s death as a rude shock.
He said: “It was so
sudden that it was certainly unreal in the fact that, yesterday morning, we did
not feel that something like this was on the cards. I actually was flying from
Kaduna to Lagos, I live in Lagos. I had no idea that it was even between Kaduna
and Abuja, only for me to get to Lagos and my phone rang from everywhere in
Nigeria, confirming the ugly incident. “So, you can imagine the shock and now
for me to also find out that it wasn’t just him but his wife and Joshua, that
was like the world had crumbled on us because our families were like twin
families.
“My wife got the first text and she replied that it was not possible.
My wife is the Vice-Chancellor of Landmark University and former Vice-Chancellor
of Covenant University. “Her first reaction was that it was not possible, then
the person now called her back and said it was all over the social media, it
was devastating to imagine. Two weeks ago, I was here in this house, two days,
four days we talked and we planned and to suddenly hear that it was like
someone just shut the door, everything we have been planning, everybody calls
him my twin brother, even when I am in Lagos, people in Abuja phoned me to find
out where he is.
“When we sat down there and we were discussing, the plans for
the future, the fact is that as minister, he had to pull off from anything that
will give any look of impropriety which Ocholi was particular about. Even his
businesses and things that he was committed to, we were discussing how to
handle them to make sure that there was no conflict of interest. “That was our
last conversation. We were sitting here when he was about to travel to Kogi for
the run-off election. He had five children, two sons and three daughters. Ojoni
is the first daughter, Aaron is the second son, he was called to bar the day
his father was screened in the Senate.
“He went for a church service in Kaduna;
he has been involved in Christian activities for a very long time and that was
actually how we met. There is a bond between the two of us because of our love
for God. “Even his coming into politics was to bring a dimension of cleanliness
and most people will not understand if I tell you that Ocholi entered into
politics because he had a call. I was the first person that he told. I was
sitting beside him when he told me and said Toks, I heard God saying I should
go and serve him in politics but I like legal practice. “I said if God said you
should go and serve him that is where you should go. This is so devastating.”
Also speaking, a cousin to the late minister, Isaac Agbanwu, a surveyor said:
“We were not expecting this. “We were together on Thursday, our discussion was
about a trip he was going to make officially and I was to meet him and then
discuss with him before he travelled and I went, we discussed and I left his
office on Thursday. “I was expecting that by Saturday, he would have travelled;
I was not expecting him around, let alone hearing of his death. I also
travelled to the village, it was on my way to the village that I was informed
about his death, I had no option than to turn back immediately. It is bad news
to us.
“He has a son who is already a graduate, called to the bar.
We are making him to understand that he should see it as a reality and not a
drama. “He was a humble man, an accessible man, a man that has the comfort of
people as his agenda before himself. He wouldn’t want to hurt anybody, he was
always focused on heaven and did not want to be derailed.”
7 more still hospitalised — FRSC
Kaduna State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Francis Udoma,
confirmed to Vanguard in Kaduna, yesterday, that 10 persons were in the two
SUVs, a Prado and a Lexus, involved in the accident that claimed the lives of
the minister, his wife and son, adding that seven others who sustained serious
injuries were rushed to the hospital for treatment. His words: “A total of 10
persons were involved in that sad accident.
You have already written about
those that died – the minister,, his wife and son. There are seven other
victims, but they have all been taken to the Abuja National Hospital,
yesterday. ‘’They were in two cars – a Prado and a Lexus. All I can tell you is
that at the time we took them there, they were given prompt medical attention.
Since I am not the one treating them, I cannot tell you precisely how they are
responding. But, I am told that they are responding well”, he said.
He’ll be immortalised — Ngige
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator
Chris Ngige, yesterday, said the Federal Government might immortalise the late
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi, SAN. Senator Ngige
stated this after signing the condolence register opened in honour of the late
minister in Abuja. He also disclosed that he had declared a one day mourning
and a work-free day for the staff in the ministry yesterday, adding that
President Muhammadu Buhari had been duly notified and that Ocholi might be
immortalized by the Federal Government because he died in active service.
His
words: “Yes! The Federal Government will work out something. I have written
officially to notify Mr. President about his transition and I believe the
Federal Government will work out something because he died in active service.
This is the second time the country is losing a minister of state, I think in
1982, the country lost a minister of state who went to São Tomé.”
He said the
Ministry will take care of the remaining members of Ocholi’s family and the
staff of the ministry who sustained various degrees of injury in the accident.
In a condolence message signed by the minister, he said: “My brother and
comrade in the struggle for a better Nigeria, you left us suddenly and without
a word. I’m still shocked. We are consoled that in the brief period we worked
as compatriots, you have shown you are a true Nigerian and one who desires the
maximum good for the common man. Adieu.”
Yobe deputy Gov in auto crash
Also yesterday, the Deputy Governor of Yobe State, Abubakar
Ali, was involved in an auto accident along the Kaduna-Kano Expressway. An
eyewitness, Sanusi Abdul, said the incident occurred at Daka-Tsalle town, along
the expressway. “The SUV he was travelling in had a head-on collision with a
Toyota Avensis. Fortunately, the deputy governor’s vehicle did not somersault,
but the Toyota car was badly damaged and some of its occupants injured,” he
said.
Abdul, who said the accident occurred around 9:30 am, added that he also
narrowly missed hitting the deputy governor’s car, adding that the deputy
governor’s convoy later continued its trip to Kano. Efforts to speak with the
deputy governor was unsuccessful as he neither answered nor returned calls.
A
source at Government House, Damaturu, however, said the deputy governor
travelled to Kano on a condolence visit to Kano State governor, Abdullahi
Ganduje, who lost his mother on Friday. Confirming the accident, the Sector
Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in Kano State, Mr. Aminu Umar
Jaba, said: “It was a minor accident blown out of proportion by an unnamed aide
to the deputy governor. The commander, however, declined further details on the
number of vehicles involved in the accident but blamed social media for
exaggerating the accident. “As for the fact we have at our disposal, it was a
minor accident. The deputy governor escaped unhurt and he is now at Ganduje
village on a condolence visit.”
PDP Consoles Buhari, FG
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has condoled
President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government of Nigeria over the death
of the Minister of State for Labour, Mr James Ocholi. The party in a statement
signed by the National Publicity, Olisa Metuh, said the death of Mr Ocholi came
to “the PDP as a huge shock and prayed God to grant eternal repose to their
souls”. Part of the statement read: “The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, on behalf of the National Executive
Committee, NEC, of the party condoles with the Federal Government and President
Muhammadu Buhari on the tragic death of the Minister of State for Labour, Barr.
James Ocholi SAN, his wife and son in a car crash on Sunday”.
The party also
commiserated with the minister’s family and prayed God to grant them the
fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, adding that “the family should take
solace in the exemplary and patriotic life lived by the late minister as well
as his immense contributions to the legal profession and the nation at large.
It prayed God to grant his soul eternal rest.”
Saraki, Ekweremadu mourn Ocholi
Also Senate President,Bukola Saraki, and the Deputy
Senate President,Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday expressed deep shock and disbelief
over Sunday’s demise of Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James
Ocholi, his wife and eldest son in a road mishap along Abuja-Kaduna Road. The
Senate President, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and
Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu in Abuja, described the tragic death of such a
“promising Nigerian” as the late Minister as a colossal loss to the present
administration in particular and the country at large. He condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council,FEC, the governor and people of Kogi State, leaders and people of North Central zone and the immediate family of the deceased over the unfortunate incident. Saraki said: “I still recall when the late Ocholi appeared before the Senate to be screened and confirmed as Minister a few months ago. He was not only full of life, he came across to me as a man of great ideas and accomplishments. “He was very articulate and brilliant in his presentation and gave good account of himself as Senior Advocate of repute, who given the chance to discharge the duty assigned to him, would have contributed immensely in turning around the story of unemployment in this country.
“His death and that of his wife and eldest son, is a colossal loss to me, his immediate family, the people and government of Kogi State, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress,APC and the entire country.” He prayed God to grant the souls of the deceased eternal rest, and urged Nigerians, especially his immediate family, to be comforted by the fact that Ocholi breathed his last while on acting service for his father land.
Source:Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment