Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
While paying tribute to Mama Fanny Igali as a nation builder during a condolence visit to Chief Mourner Ambassador Boladei Igali on the death of his mother, former Nigerian President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The late mother taught in her children the virtues of service, discipline, and hard work, which the former president of Nigeria praised as immeasurable and enduring after her. He paid Ambassador Igali a visit at his Yenagoa country house.
The former president used the occasion to explain that he had known the senior Federal Permanent Secretary and retired ambassador since they were both first-generation college students at the University of Portharcourt and that they had remained close friends ever since. Igali, according to him, is a skilled administrator and technocrat who consistently surpassed himself while serving the country and Bayelsa State. He remembered in particular how he convinced former President Olusegun Obasanjo to release Amb Igali on secondment to the state so that they could work together when he was elected governor of the Niger Delta State in December 2005.
President Jonathan took the opportunity to celebrate motherhood’s wonderful traits and to show his mother, who is still alive and well, how much he loves her. Then, if any cultural standards for the welfare of women were no longer relevant, he requested that they be evaluated.
In his response on behalf of the Igali Family, His Royal Highness, King Darius Job, Chairman of the Southern Ijaw LGA Council of Traditional Rulers and Paramount Ruler of Eniwari, alluded to the late mother as a pioneer in the region’s embrace of women in higher education. He recalled her duties as an educator and everyone’s mother, as well as her career as a professional caterer and catering officer at the Old Rivers State Government House. He specifically thanked Former President Jonathan for his continuous dedication to the country, humanity, and his relationship with the Igali family.
Along with close friends, the former president was attended by some notable Bayelsa elders. They were greeted by the Igali family’s relatives, in-laws, and other notable Traditional Rulers.
