The death of a former commissioner for Health in Anambra State in the Second Republic, Dr. Edwin Onwudiwe, has been described as a great loss to Nigeria.

In a press statement in Abuja signed by the National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ozonkpu Dr. Victor Ike Oye, the late politician cum medical practitioner was described as a colossus whose imprints would remain indelible on the political turf of our nation.

Dr. Victor Oye recalled with nostalgia his close encounters with Dr. Edwin Onwudiwe (Otigbuinyinya) during his campaigns for Senate which he won by defeating Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

“Edwin Onwudiwe was a politician and an administrator whose astuteness and dexterity transcended the ordinary, despite the huge challenges he surmounted in his battle to the Senate,” Dr. Oye reminisced.

He regretted the dearth of effable and courageous politicians of Onwudiwe’s ilk in our clime, while praying God to strengthen our democracy by giving us great men and women that would serve Nigeria altruistically and faithfully.

Dr. Oye listed Onwuduwe’s contemporaries to include some of the commissioners that served under Governor Jim Nwobodo of Old Anambra State such as the late Chief Osita Okeke (Education), late Chukwuma Okoye (Public Utilities and later Education), late Thomas Chigbo (Youths and Sports), Nweke Anyigor (Agriculture), Malachy Ezeilo (Works), and late Christopher Emeghelu (Information).

He urged the family of the late Edwin Onwudiwe of Ogbunike to take heart and bear the loss with equanimity for the simple reason that their patriarch led a life of service to God and mankind.

He prayed God to grant the soul of the departed eternal repose in heaven.