The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, was still in shock yesterday over the death of her foster mother, Madam Charity Obah, in an auto crash on Monday.
The accident occurred at Isiokpo-Elele area of the East-West Road, Rivers State, while she was travelling from Port Harcourt to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. A source said that the First Lady, who is in Geneva, was devastated by the news of the accident.
Dame Jonathan is in Geneva where she was formally appointed Champion for Child Online Protection, initiated by the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, in 2008 to strengthen cyber security, bringing together partners from various sectors to ensure a safe and secure online experience for children around the world.
The Rivers State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Angela Agabe, told journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday that the accident also claimed the life of a 14-year-old girl, simply identified as Favour, a student of Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School, Elele.
The PPRO said that the late Madam Obah was travelling in the company of her driver, Stanley Enyinnaya, and two others in a Toyota car with registration number ABU 153 AE from Port Harcourt to Bayelsa State when the accident occurred.
She said the driver and the other passengers who sustained injuries were being treated at the Save the Life Hospital, GRA, Port Harcourt.
Agabe explained that the deceased was not the biological mother of Dame Jonathan but took care of her after the death of her mother, adding that the bodies of the dead had been taken to Kpaima Mortuary in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in Rivers State have been reacting to the accident, blaming it on the bad state of the East-West Road.
The Director, Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Anyankwe Nsirimovu, stated that it was a pity that the woman had to die on that road, saying that she had joined the list of many other Nigerians, especially those from the Niger Delta, who had lost their lives on the road.
He expressed hope that the latest situation would force the Federal Government to give the required attention to the road, which has been in terrible state of disrepair for many years.
Nsirimovu blamed the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, for the poor handling of the road rehabilitation project and called for his resignation for failing to deliver the project in good time.
Speaking to our correspondent in Port Harcourt, Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Rivers and Bayelsa states, Dr. Meniabi Dagogo-Jack, also called for the resignation of Orubebe and the transfer of the East- West road rehabilitation project to the Federal Ministry of Works.
He also accused the Ministry of Niger Delta of exhibiting a lukewarm attitude towards the project, saying that the ministry had demonstrated lack of commitment to the project. Nsirimovu added that Orubebe “has no capability to be in that ministry and I call for his resignation with immediate effect.”
Attempts to get the reaction of the Presidency to the accident were not successful last night.
The Office of the First Lady was to issue a statement yesterday on the death of Madam Obah but the decision was droppedlater. Meanwhile, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, yesterday expressed shock over the sudden death of the mother of the President’s wife.
Dickson, on behalf of government and people of the state in a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described the death of the deceased as a great blow and irreparable loss to her immediate family and the nation as a whole.
Part of the statement reads: “Her motherly and wise counsel will be greatly missed by all, who knew her.
“Her demise is coming at such a time when the First Lady and her family needed her support and encouragement most.” The governor urged the First Lady and the Obah family to accept the unfortunate incident as the will of God. Dickson prayed God to strengthen and grant Mrs. Jonathan and the entire family the fortitude and courage to bear the loss.
Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has also expressed shock at the death of the mother of Dame Jonathan.
In a condolence message issued by Mr. Felix Ofou, his Press Secretary, the governor said that the news of the death of the First Lady’s was a big blow not only to President Jonathan, but the entire South-South and Nigeria.
“Mama was not only a huge asset to the First family; she was a mother to the South-South. This is definitely a big blow to all of us.”
Uduaghan stated that the people and government of Delta State shared in the grief caused by the death and prayed God to grant the First Lady, President Jonathan and the nation the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.
Wife of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Hajiya Titi, similarly expressed her condolence to the First Lady on the death of her mother.
In a letter of condolence made available to our correspondent in Abuja yesterday, Atiku’s wife said she was personally touched by the sudden and unfortunate death.
She said that mother’s love is the deepest experience in the life of her children and urged Nigerians to connect to the First Lady with a sense of sympathy and empathy.
Abubakar said as a child, she experienced a mother’s love and understood what it meant to lose one at whatever age.
She prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest in peace and the family the fortitude to bear the loss
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