Ohaneze mourns late Sen. Ellah
• Monday, May 12, 2008

The Igbo Apex Socio-Cultural body, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Monday described the death of Sen. Francis Ellah, as a great loss to the nation.

The organisation’s President-General, Dr Dozie Ikedife, said this in Port Harcourt when led other members on a condolence visit to the family of the late Senator.

Ikedife described the late former Senator as a great African, a distinguished Nigerian and an elder statesman, who made his mark through sincerity and dedication to his country.

He said Ellah was a free and logical thinker, whose exit had left a yawning gap in the country’s leadership, especially the Igbo race.

Ikedife advised the children of the deceased to preserve the legacies of their late father.

“Your father gave you education and so what you owe him is to live in peace and sustain his legacies, ” Ikedife said.

Responding, Ellah’s widow, Mrs Patricia Ellah, expressed her gratitude for the solidarity shown to the family by the body, saying: It’s a source of big encouragement for us’’.

“Somehow, it is very difficult for me to discuss the death of my husband as I have yet to summon courage to accept that he is no more,” she said.

Our correspondent reports that Ellah represented Rivers East Constituency in the Senate during the Second Republic under the platform of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP).