The apex Igbo organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has lamented that the former National Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, died without being celebrated by the country, despite his significant contributions to Nigeria’s electoral system.
Ohanaeze also protested that, while the acclaimed winner of the June 12 general election, the late MKO Abiola, is being remembered and immortalized, late Humphrey Nwosu was never honoured.
According to the Acting National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke Ogene:
“Until his death, no one, including the federal government, recognized this man, despite the fact that he put his life on the line to save the country’s democracy.”
“Late Humphrey Nwosu was my brother; we belong to the same Orumba North local government area of Anambra State and, as a matter of fact, he is my kinsman. It is sad that successive administrations in the country never acknowledged him, not even by naming a federal institution after him.”
“There are others in his position who might have compromised, but he stood his ground and ensured that the electoral wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian masses were realized,” he said.
Ogene stated that the neglect of late Humphrey Nwosu until his death is indicative of the fact that the Nigerian Civil War has not truly ended, adding that had Nwosu been from another tribe, he would have been celebrated.
He suggested that a National Institute for Political Studies should be established and named after him in recognition of his great contributions to shaping the democracy and politics of the country.
“Late Humphrey Nwosu should have a National Institute for Political Studies named after him, and a yearly lecture series should be organized in his name,” he said.
