By DAVID IORJA, Abuja –
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the demise of former Minister of Iron & Steel Development during the second republic, Wantaregh Paul Iyorpuu Unongo, lamenting that the country has lost an elder statesman.
Unongo, who conceived and nurtured the establishment of the multi-billion dollar Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi state, died on Tuesday morning in Jos, the Plateau State capital at the age of 87.
He hailed from Jato Aka in Turan district of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
Unongo died while serving the nation as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), a position he had been occupying since April 2018 when he was appointed by President Buhari.
He was also a former Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), in addition to the several other political positions he had held, including his deep involvement in the 1977 constitutional conference and that of 1994/1995 which former military dictator, late General Sani Abacha, organised in Abuja.
In a tribute, released in Abuja Tuesday evening by his Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, President Buhari acknowledged the close relationship he had with the deceased, adding that “in all the positions he held as a politician and public officer, he displayed a high level of decorum. He was a colossus in public life, very articulate and witty. He served his community and the nation extremely well.
“My deepest condolences to the bereaved family, and the government and people of Benue State,” the President said.
A strong politician, Unongo, who was the pioneer National Secretary of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), led by the Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe during the second republic, was appointed minister in the government of President Shehu Shagari of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, in the spirit of the infamous NPN-NPP Accord.
An acclaimed orator, Unongo also aspired to govern Benue State in 1983 but lost to Aper Aku of blessed memory. He also lost to George Akume of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003.
Unongo was the founder of Juladaco High School in Kassa, Plateau state; Julado Specialist Hospital and Juladaco Hotels in Katsina-Ala, Benue State; Juladaco Football Club and; Juladaco Express (a transport company).
Details of his death were still sketchy at the time of this report, but a family source was quoted to have told one of the media houses in the country the former minister died Tuesday after a brief illness.
“Yes Wantaregh Paul Unongo died today Tuesday but I cannot say more than that because I am not authorised to do so. But our family will issue a formal statement on the development,” he said.
Unongo, who was born on September 26, 1935, attended Government College, Keffi and obtained multiple degrees in Experimental Psychology from Canadian universities before returning to Nigeria in pioneer the Department of Psychology at the University of Lagos 9UNILAG).
He also served as Private Secretary to the former Military Governor of the defunct Benue-Plateau State, Col. JD Gomwalk before fully venturing into politics.
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