Elder statesman and former Minister of Steel Development in the Second Republic, Wantaregh Paul Unongo is dead.
The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adebayo Adewole has mourned the demise of elder statesman and one -time Chairman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Wantaregh Paul Iorpuu Unongo.
Unongo, who was a Minister of Power and Steel in the Second Republic, died yesterday at the age of 87.
Adebayo took to his Twitter handle to narrate his encounter with the late icon before his death: “This scion of Kwaghngise-Anure-Abera ancestry of Turan, Kwande LGA of Benue State did all he could to industrialise Nigeria and unify our people. I saw him few days ago and I sensed that his were few.
“All efforts I made to get Baba to talk were only met with humming of heavenly songs and soft smiles of an undefeated, unrelenting energetic spirit trapped in an ailing mortal body. If the dreams of Paul Unongo had come to pass, Nigeria would have been today, an industrial giant.”
“I managed to assure Baba that we had not dropped the baton and the race continues despite headwinds and distracted leadership in today’s Nigeria.
Wherever we choose to bury Paul Unongo, Ajaokuta Steel Complex would always be his cenotaph and the burial ground of our steely dreams”.
“He prayed for the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss should be granted to his family.”
