The candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 governorship election in Enugu State, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga has described as shocking the recent passage of the President of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo Worldwide, renowned industrialist and politician, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, saying he was a hero of the Igbo people and Nigeria.

Edeoga, who said he last met the late Chief Iwuanyanwu less than two months ago, on May 30, 2024, said although he admitted being slightly indisposed, there was nothing to suggest that the life of the chieftain of the defunct National Republican Convention was so critically ill.

The Labour Party chieftain, in a statement he personally signed and made available to the media, described the late Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo leader as a “humble, humane, compassionate and philanthropic leader who dedicated his life towards service and making life better for those whom he comes across.

Highlighting his dedication to the emancipation of his people and the rest of the country, Edeoga said Igbo people will miss him because of his efforts to advance their cause in the wider Nigerian socio-political and economic structure.

“As President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu worked assiduously even against the dictates of his age to serve, to protect and to advance the interest of Ndigbo,” the Labour Party chieftain said.

He described the late politician who was also the founder of popular national newspaper, Daily Champion, as a bridge builder who was embraced the entire country as one, a disposition that made him to build homes in nearly all parts of the country.

“Chief Iwuanyanwu had homes and friends in the West, in the North and in the East. He was a recipient of a national award for service to Nigeria. He was a trailblazer, a patriotic and a Pan-Nigerian guru. His departure has left a void and a vacuum that will be difficult to fill,” Edeoga said.

The statement continued; “Most of my adult life I have known and related closely with Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and I know that he was humble, humane, compassionate, philanthropic and his life was animated by a burning zeal to serve and make better as many lives as possible.

“He was a man of many parts and many excellencies. He was the proprietor and publisher of the Champion Group of Newspapers. I was a staff of Champion Newspapers and I recall with gratitude and nostalgia the heavily subsidized meals that were available to all the members of staff of the group, as evidence of Chief Iwuanyanwu’s humane disposition and empathy.

“|Chief Iwuanyanwu was the Chairman and Chief Executive of Hardel and ENIC, a pioneer Civil Engineering Consortium, that operated mostly in Eastern Nigeria in the immediate post Nigerian Civil War years. Hardel & ENIC was the model, inspiration and support for so many such outfits that sprouted and blossomed.

He was the founder and financier of Iwuanyanwu Nationale, for many years a very successful football team that won laurels and was the launchpad for the national and international careers of many young and talented Nigerians.

“A landmark building named after his wife Eudora, at his alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is one of the several such projects that attest to his commitment to education and to philanthropy. The high point of his engagement with partisan politics was at the National Republican Convention, a party of consequence in 1990. His bid for the Presidential ticket for the party and his preliminary path-clearing support for a Northern Nigeria Chairman for the party in the person of Alhaji Mantu, was so bold, so audacious, that he nearly upset the prevalent mindset that in politics of the Presidency of Nigeria, Northern leaders must dictate the outcome.”

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