The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has mourned former Minister of Power and Steel in the Second Republic, Paul Unongo.
Unongo, who hailed from Jato Aka in the Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, died Tuesday morning in Jos, the Plateau State capital at the age of 87.
In his tribute yesterday, Adebayo said the Unongo did all he could to industrialize the nation and unite Nigerians.
He recalled his recent meeting with the former minister before his demise.
“I mourn elder Statesman, Wantaregh, Paul Iyorpuu 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,” Adebayo wrote on Twitter.
“All efforts I made to get Baba to talk were only met with the 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”.
A strong politician, he aspired to govern Benue State in 1983 but lost to Aper Aku of blessed memory.
In 2017, Unongo succeeded Maitama Sule as the chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum.
