By LUCY OGALUE

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Sept. 12, buried his elder brother, Charles Amaechi, in his country home Ubima, Rivers State.

Amaechi, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, said the death left a huge family responsibility on him as it would be difficult to combine both family and official responsibilities.

The minister spoke during a church service organised for the deceased at the St. Theresa Catholic Church, Ubima

“He has left us with a huge responsibility that I never imagined would be so soon to confront and a challenge that I lack the capacity to discharge.

”Chikamkpa, Lemchi, Obinna, Judith and I will find it difficult to come to terms with his death. We can only pray that Dede rests in the bosom of the Lord.

”Dede, as he was widely known, was generous to a fault. Dede was a name given to him by me in reverence to his ubiquitous care and fatherly role in our lives.

”He was everything to everybody and was full of life, he related with both the young and the old and got all his children educated.

”He protected all of us from the vagaries of the Nigerian society.

“He contributed to the payment of my school fees and ensured that we were not fatherless at the death of our father as he assumed the responsibilities of the family.

”He made my younger siblings complete their education and got them engaged in their different spheres of responsibilities,” Amaechi said.

In his remarks, Plateau state Gov. Simon Lalong, who represented both the Nigerian Governors Forum and the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), said the late Charles Amaechi lived a good life worthy of emulation.

Lalong said: “The late, Sir Charles Amaechi has done a good work because it is not easy to be a Knight. Ours is to emulate him and his contributions to the church of Christ.

”I am here to represent the Chairman Nigeria Governors Forum, the person of Gov. Kayode Fayemi, and also the Northern Governors Forum, which I’m the Chairman, to extend our condolences to Rotimi Amaechi on this great loss.”

Lalong, however, donated a 32-seater bus on behalf of the Plateau government to the church as a mark of remembrance for the good deeds of the deceased.

In her condolence message, Minister of State, Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, said the deceased lived a worthy life bequeathed with legacies for which he would be fondly remembered.

“I wish to join you to offer gratitude to God for the life he lived and I urge you to continue to uphold his guiding values as a tribute to his loving memory,” Saraki said.

Also, Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr Isaac Ogbobula, described the deceased as a perfect gentleman, devout Christian of the Roman Catholic faith and a Knight of St. Mulumba.

“He was a committed and dependable party leader and regularly offered valuable and stabilising advice on burning political issues.

”Dede never lost hope in the APC but was always looking toward the brighter side of things for the party,” Ogbobula said.

The late Charles Amaechi died at age 64 at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), in Rivers. (NAN)

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