IBB’s In-law, Sunny Okogwu, is dead

THE Ojise of Asaba, Chief Sunny Okogwu, an in-law to former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, is dead. Late Okogwu was the elder brother of Babangida’s late wife, Maryam.

It was gathered that the late Okogwu died at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja at about 8:00 pm on Saturday.

Though his age was not known at the time of filing this report, it is believed that he was in his early 80s at the time of his death.

The Ship House Residence of Chief Okogwu on Ilorin road, Marafa estate in Kaduna city was quiet when our correspondent visited.

However, a 63-year-old, Yunusa Jibrin, a security guard in the residence told our correspondent that the death of the Ojise of Asaba was a big blow to those who are very close to the family.

Jibrin said: “The death of Chief Sunny Okogwu is a great loss to the ordinary Nigerians who benefited from his humanitarian gestures.

“I have been with him since 1982 and he had treated me like a son even though I am a Muslim. Despite my religion, he never discriminated against me.

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“We in Sabon-Gaya Community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State will miss him. He brought development to the community. We will never forget him. We pray will bear the irreparable loss.”

In his reaction, a lawmaker representing the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, said the death of Okogwu was a great loss to people of Kaduna and Nigeria as a whole.

He described the late Okogwu as an outstanding philanthropist and businessman who had touched the lives of the poor.

According to Sani on his Facebook wall, “the death of Chief Sunny is a great loss to the people of Kaduna State and Nigeria as a whole.

“He was an outstanding philanthropist and a Businessman who touched the lives of millions of poor people in Kaduna and beyond.

“For decades, his home became a hub for the needy and the downtrodden.

“Sunny Okogwu lived his life in the service of others. He was a true nationalist and a patriot who lived a life of service to humanity. He was ‘a poor man’s rich man’.

“For those of us who were born or grew up in Kaduna, we can attest to his material intervention in all facets of life, aimed at uplifting the lives of the have not.”

The lawmaker added, “Sunny Okogwu built a ship house that became an ark for the marginalized and the underprivileged.

“Sunny Okogwu was a Nigerian from Delta state who choose to live in the north in defiance of all sentiments, crisis and seasons of bloodshed that characterized and marked our history.

“He symbolized unity and resistance against divisions and divisiveness. Chief Sunny’s life was a lesson in tolerance and compassion.”