Senate eulogises Chukwumerije, Zannah

THE Senate yesterday held a valedictory session for Senators Uche Chukwumerije (Abia North) and Ahmad Zannah (Borno Central) who died in April and May respectively.

In a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba and supported by the entire lawmakers one after the other, paid tributes in honour of their late colleagues.

In his lead debate, the Senate Leader observed that every age and generation produces an iconoclast, an eclectic, eccentric, a quirky and unusual figure, who ironically represents the measure, the values and indeed, the essence of that age or generation and becomes the icon of that age or generation.

He said: “There are no conventional persons, there are peculiar, odd, curious, capricious, quaint, queer and even erratic. Somehow, in spite of their unusualness, they remain unusually lovable. They cannot be ignored. They are usually unobtrusive yet their presence is forceful and they remind us of who we secretly would wish to be but for our lack of either the courage of our convictions or the DNA to be that.”

Victor Ndoma-Egba described Chukwumerije as an amiable, articulate, resourceful politician and nationalist by his disposition to national issues whose love and passion for development of the nation was his driving force.
Speaking about the late Senator Zannah, the Upper Chamber observed that Zannah was a devout Muslim throughout his life and a good family man who loved his children and cared for the needy irrespective of personal, ethnic or religious affiliations.

“He was a teacher, consummate public servant, as astute businessman cum politician and philanthropist who positively touched many lives in his life time.