“All efforts I made to get Baba to talk were only met with the humming of heavenly songs." SDP Presidential Candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, mourns Paul Unongo

 

Prince Adebayo Adewole, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has mourned the death of elder statesman and one-time Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Wantaregh Paul Iorpuu Unongo.

Unongo, a Second Republic Minister of Power and Steel, died yesterday at the age of 87.

Adebayo, who was among hundreds of mourners across the country, took to Twitter to recount his encounter with the late icon before his death, noting that if the deceased's dreams had come true, Nigeria would not be the same today.

While bidding farewell to the deceased's soul, the leading presidential candidate also stated that the race to make the country a better place continues.

 “I mourn elder Statesman, Wantaregh, Paul lyorpuu UNONGO who has died in Jos. 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 days back and I knew days left were few. Adieu.

“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", Adebayo said in a tweet.