THE LAST HOURS OF SEN. UCHE CHUKWUMERIJE. DIED OF LUNG CANCER MONTHS TO 75TH BIRTHDAY

Senator Uche Chukwumerije, one of the leading lights of Nigeria's Senate has reported dead, he died of lung cancer at the Turkish Hospital in Abuja at 75. The exit of the three-term senator was announced in a statement signed by one of his sons, Che Chidi Chukwumerije, titled: “The passing of an inspirational icon”.

The statement said: “this  evening of Sunday, the 19th of April, 2015, surrounded by his family, Comrade Uche Chukwumerije passed into the open arms of history, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, after a long but gallant battle with lung cancer. His life is many volumes, which can only be told with care and time, of dedication and focus, integrity and discipline, and an unbroken love for the highest ideals of our shared humanity. Details of burial arrangements will be announced in due course. We ask only for your prayers and good wishes. God bless.”

The Senate followed up with its own announcement later last night on its Education Committee chair’s demise. Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said Chukwumerije passed on on Sunday evening at the Turkish Hospital, Abuja.
Abaribe described the lawmaker as a “political giant and one of the nation’s finest legislators.” He said: “The Senate will surely miss his erudite contributions on the floor of the chamber and his painstaking approach to committee work.

The late Chukwumerije’s son, Chika, the last of his seven children who won an Olympic Bronze medal in Taekwondo inBeijing in 2008 said of his dad: “He has been an inspiration in ways I cannot explain.” His dad sponsored his pre-Olympic training and competitions which enabled him to win the medal.

Chukwumerije was born in November 1939. He was elected a Senator in 2003. He served as minister of Information in the dying days of the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. He was retained in the same position in the Interim National Government (ING) led by Chief Ernest Shonekan, which was installed after Gen. Babangida’s forced exit from power.

In the Fourth Republic, the late Chukwumerije was first elected to the Senate on the PDP platform.  He fell out of favour with the party’s leadership and joined the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) platform in 2006. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2007. Chukwumerije was elected for the third time on the PDP platform in 2011. The late Chukwumerije, who was divorced with seven children, studied economics at the University of Ibadan (UI).