Chief James Onanefe Ibori has described the death of Chief Sonny Okogwu as a terrible blow to him personally, Delta State and Nigeria is a whole.
Ibori said in a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Tony Eluemunor, that Chief Okogwu who died in an Abuja hospital on Saturday was a totally detribalised Nigerian. He said: “Though Okogwu was every inch a Delta state indigene and was particularly proud of his Asaba root and the town’s title of Ojisi, which he held, he at the same time felt very much at home in the preeminent Northern city of Kaduna. His remarkably picturesque house, the “Ship House” is a tourist masterpiece.
“Indeed, Chief Okogwu was a political reference point in Kaduna for decades. He achieved this status well-before his brother-in-law, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babamgida (rtd) became the President of Nigeria and remained so for the decades after IBB had left office.
Okogwu remained very colourful until his death. His press interviews and political statements were always as fiery as they were difficult to decipher. He once said he needed to be first decoded in order to be understood. What was not in doubt was his business acumen; he built his business empire in an area that many Nigerian businessmen and women would rather leave well alone; aviation. He had the dream of training pilots locally and manufacturing aircraft parts.
Chief Okogwu, all through his life, always threw his doors open to people from the Mid-West region, Bendel and later Delta states. I experienced his remarkable generosity during my brief stay in Kaduna prison. Chief Okogwu was indeed one of my sureties and he offered his Ship House as a bond to meet my bail conditions.
His fragrant memory will always linger in my mind. May God grant him eternal rest.
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