Amechi is Dead; Buhari’s Promise To Him Unfulfilled

By Adesina Soyooye

Chief Mbazulike Amaechi is dead. According to a release by his family, he died Tuesday morning, 1st November, 2022.

Accomplished in all spheres of life, including the gift of old age, Amechi, who was Nigeria’s first Aviation Minister, died with one of his greatest desires unfulfilled.

In his last months on Earth, he worked assiduously for the release, from custody, of the Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

In his desire for that, in a rare action by a man his age, he led a delegation of a few prominent Igbo men to State House, Abuja, to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari for Kanu’s release.

In a passionate appeal, he asked the President to release Kanu to him as a favour before his (Amaechi’s) death. He promised to rein Kanu in if done the favour.

Even though Buhari promised to consider the request, difficult as he said it was, he never fulfilled the promise to the old man. Instead, the Buhari-led Federal Government has tightened its hold on Kanu, Court judgements for his release notwithstanding.

Amaechi who was in his 90s was a foremost Zikist, and until his death, the only surviving one.

A statement released Tuesday morning by his family, signed by Ezeana Tagbo Amechi, confirmed he died in the early hours of Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

The statement reads: “With total deference to the will of the Almighty God, the Ume Amechi, Ezeana Ihinede families and the Umu Mmara kindred of Amihe Ukpor in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State announce the peaceful transition of our illustrious son, father and grandfather, Chief Mbazulike Amechi (Dara Akunwafor), Nationalist and First Republic Minister of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who transitioned peacefully in the early hours of today November 1, 2022.

“We thank God for the fulfilled life that he lived, the lives that he touched and his service to God and Country. We respectfully ask that you keep us in your prayers”

He hailed from Amihe village in Ukpor, Nnewi Local Government Area of Anambra State.