By Christian ABURIME
Governor of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR has described the death of Anambra State lawmaker and former Majority Leader in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Nnamdi Okafor, as a loss to the State.
Governor Soludo made the remark at St. Patrick’s Cathedral during a special mass held in honour of the departed lawmaker.
According to the Governor, “We are here to give honour and our last respect to our brother, friend, colleague, father, Hon. Nnamdi Okafor who until his death was the majority leader in the State House of Assembly.
“His death is a loss to the entire Anambra. But we are particularly consoled by his contributions as a lawmaker while he was with us”.
“I thank His Lordship for this homily. He reminded us that death is inevitable.
“The game of life has it that once you are born, you are old enough to die. It is not how long one lived, but how well and impactful”.
The Governor continued, “We mourn Nnamdi and commiserate with his family. But we also celebrate him because he lived an impactful life”.
Recalling his first encounter with the deceased, Governor Soludo said, “my first contact with him was during his days at the Authentic Progressive Forum and since then, we’ve been going on well. But being that it pleased God, we can only say yes as he is no longer with us now in the physical.
“During his years in public service, he served Anambra well. The laws he passed and all contributions he made remain a source of encouragement. May his soul rest in peace!
“I also want to use this opportunity to call on everyone to take care of their health.
According to the Governor, the average life expectancy for males in Nigeria is about 54, while that of females is about 56 years.
“It is therefore necessary for us to always take our health seriously. We have health insurance scheme in Anambra; just one thousand naira a month.
“Our emphasis as government in this liveable Anambra is for people to clean the environment- the air we breathe, the food we eat, much of the health issues we face is caused by what we do by ourselves.
“We must take responsibility for our health; that way we will be able to prolong our life expectancy.
“You must know that each of those drugs you take have side effects”.
The Governor stressed that the only way to immortalise the late lawmaker is to live out the essence of what he lived for.
“Promote the ideals that he lived and died for. Carry on with the same principles that Nnamdi lived for, transmit them to his children, that way, his legacies will live on”, concluded the Governor.
Earlier in a homily, the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor said that wisdom makes it easier to be human.
“As we are on earth, we should have it at the back of our mind that we have limited time here, no matter what we think of yourselves.
“Know that everything does not end here on earth. Let’s be careful of the kind of life we live, afterall, vanity upon vanity, all is vanity. Know that we have the present life and life after death”, the Prelate implored.
Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uche Okafor, Deputy Speaker, Dr. Paschal Agbodike, Secretary to the State Government, Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, Head of Service, Barrister Theodora Igwegbe, Traditional Prime Minister of Awka, Chief Ben Okoye, members of the State House of Assembly, family, friends and well wishers, attended the mass.
