By Ekaette Ibuot
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has paid his final tributes to his late Elder brother Dede Charles Amaechi.
Amaechi said his late brother was a father figure to him and his siblings as he undertook the responsibility of his education and that of his siblings after the death of their father.
Speaking on Saturday in his home town Ubima, Rivers State during the funeral rites held at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Amaechi said his late elder brother kept the family together despite the absence of their father. He said his demise has created a vacuum that will be difficult to fill.
Amaechi said, “It is difficult to mange the death of my elder brother. I called him Dede and the reason why I called him that is because it’s like a tradition in Ubima. You cannot call your older brother or sister by their name, so I called him Dede and it became a household name. Most people didn’t even know that his name wasn’t Dede.
“I recall that in the struggle to get through the university, he made his own contributions, he wanted me to school overseas, unfortunately I didn’t, I had to school at the University of Port Harcourt. He’s done quite a lot for all of us and the most difficult aspect of it is that he kept the family together; and I’m not in a position to do that now that I’ve become the head of the family, but we’ll try.”
Speaking at the event, the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong and Chairman, Northern Governors Forum and representative of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Northern Governors Forum (NGF) while commiserating with the family, said the deceased lived a good life worthy of emulation and contributed greatly to the growth of the church of Christ.
Lalong said “Having read through what the man has done, I’ve met him several times, he has done a good work and it’s not easy for those of us who are catholics to be a knight and die as a knight. He has done everything for evangelism in the church and ours is to emulate him. So on behalf of all of them, jointly and severally, I once again extend our condolence to the church, to the Amaechi family and the entire village,” he said.
Lalong further extolled the late Charles Amaechi, highlighting his contributions to the church of Christ as he on behalf of the Plateau state delegation donated a 32-seater bus to the church in Ubima in memory of the deceased and all of his good deeds.
Dignitaries at the funeral include, National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni who doubled as the representative of the Progressives Governors Forum, Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, APC National Secretary, Sen. John Akpan Udoedeghe, Director General, Nigerian Maritime Security and Administration (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, former Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia amongst many friends and well wishers.
