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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Minister of labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has expressed sadness over the passing on of the former Minister of Finance, Dr. Chu SP Okongwu, lamenting that Nigeria has lost an icon, whose vast experience in economics helped shape the nation’s economy at the difficult crossroads of the 90s.
Chu Okongwu, an economist and former minister of finance died yesterday morning at the age of 87.
Born on September 23, 1934, in Anambra State as first of eight children, he attended St. Michael’s School, Aba between 1941 and 1946. From there, he moved to Government College, Umuahia and was a student there from 1947 till 1951.
He studied economic theory at Boston University and completed the degree in 1961. He also attended Harvard University from 1961 to 1965.
He served for eight years in the administration of Ibrahim Babangida, former military head of state; firstly as minister of finance from 1985 to 1986, and later as minister of national planning from 1986 to 1990. He subsequently served as the minister of cabinet affairs, and later, as the minister of petroleum.
In a statement from his Media Office in Abuja, Senator Ngige also described Dr. Okongwu as a true son of Anambra, whose exit has created a huge vacuum.
“Chu had a long sojourn in the public service, starting from when he pulled from the Ivy League schools in the United States, where he was a lecturer in econometrics, to join the East Central State Government of Ajie Ukpabi Asika as Director of Planning.
“His emergence under the Babangida administration, first as the Minister of National Planning, later Finance and subsequently Petroleum, was no surprise for Chu was a star .
“Even when in the management of the economy , that military regime felt there was no alternative to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), Chu went for a variant, whose fulcrum revolved around diversification in order to widen the national revenue base.
“He established the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (ANALDA) to ensure optimal utilisation of our rural land, to boost agriculture and produce abundant food for the nation.
“He was a true Igbo son. His towering height in public life notwithstanding, his Nnewi roots never departed from him . He was a personal friend and his death, a personal loss.”
