From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The Government and people of Ebonyi State have in a solemn manner, honoured former governor of the state and one of its founding fathers, Chief Martin Elechi who turned 83.
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, Dr. Peter Chukwu, while observing Christian religious service in Elechi’s honour in Abakaliki on Tuesday, described the celebrant as a product of the missionary who had equally reciprocated the gesture in many ways during his tenure as the state governor.
He said that Elechi received his education from the missionaries, applauded him for allowing himself to be used by God and thanked the present governor, Chief Francis Nwifuru for according his grand-predecessor with such recognition.
The bishop further addressed the octogenarian as a wordsmith whose speeches are always pregnant with meanings and appealed to other political leaders to toe his footsteps by embarking on long lasting legacies.
“The celebrant is known for his punctuality at all times and he did listen to his followers during his tenures, though we are not canonizing him rather to thank God for his sake,” he said.
Bishop Chukwu further called for the completion of the Oferekpe Water Scheme and other abandoned laudable projects in the state to enable the citizenry have access to water.
Continuing, he said: “Elechi did a lot in many schools, constructed 32 unity bridges that connect the rural to the urban and the Water Scheme, if completed, there will be abundance of water in the state.
“The project should not be abandoned going by the enormous resources already committed in the scheme and I am advising the leaders to always leave that they will be remembered for even after leaving their offices.”
Gov. Nwifuru prayed God to provide the celebrant the strength to face the challenges associated with age and other tasks in his remaining years on earth. He said that without the struggle of Elechi for the state creation, he would not have been the governor.
“I can recall what I was before 2007, when I came in contact with Chief Elechi and what I am today. without him, I would not have been here as a governor and one interesting thing in him is that he is not thrilled by what others are doing and he’s always proactive,” he said.
Elechi, in his reaction thanked the people through the governor for giving him the treatment which ordinarily he would not have given to himself and lamented on how Oferekpe Water Scheme completed by his administration was destroyed by the successive government.
He said: “The project was completed and test-run by the Federal Government, we were also producing new pipes for its reticulation but after my tenure, I wept on the day that I saw earth-moving equipment removing the same pipes which we had laid supplying water from Oferekpe to Abakaliki by the subsequent administration for the reason best known to them.”