Alex Ibru may be buried Dec 16

Posted by admin Headlines Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

First son of the publisher of Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Toke Alex Ibru, said the family has picked Friday, December 16, this year tentatively for the burial of his father, Alex Ibru, who died on Sunday afternoon at the age of 66 years.
In a chat with newsmen at the Ikoyi, Lagos residence of the deceased yesterday, he disclosed that the remains of his late father would be buried in Agbarho village, near Warri in Delta State.

According to him, “tentatively, I think the day should be Friday, December 16, 2011. It will be in the village, Agbarho, near Warri in Delta State.”
Besides, the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Emeka Izeze, said there would be an official statement from the family on the burial activities.

Toke described his father as a simple man who lived a simple life and took everything that came his way as the will of God, saying, “My daddy was a very simple man. He’s been blessed at a very young age. He took everything as the will of God.”
Toke said, “I was very close to my father, especially in the last two years. We became very close and I spent most of my free time with him after work. I gained a lot of knowledge from his past experiences.”

On what he would always remember his father for, he said, “I will remember him immensely for his love for me and contentment. So, his contentment is one of the attributes that he will be remembered for. Daddy told me, ‘everything that happens to you, it’s the will of God and once you have a need, you should be very truthful about it and set a lot of time to help other people.” But Toke, who is an Executive Director of the Guardian Newspapers, would not forget his father’s advice to him. His words: “My father told me to be very humble and contented.”

Toke said he was with his father when he breathed his last. He recalled: “I was there with him at his last moment at about 12noon on Sunday. He was in a coma for about an hour before he passed on. My mood was very cheerless. All of us including my mother were with him. We knew that he was going to die that day and we were there with him.”
Meanwhile, more Nigerians trooped in large number to the residence of the deceased yesterday to honour the departed media icon.

The list included former chief of naval staff, Vice Admiral Akin Aduwo, President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr. Olu Onagoruwa, former Minister of Information, Dr. Walter Ofonagoro and General Adeyinka Adebayo (retd), former Special Adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Umaru Dikko and Senator Bode Olajumoke.

Visitors to the place also included former chairman of the First Bank Plc, Mr. Oba Otudeko, a boardroom guru, Mr. Gamaliel Onasode, former Managing Director of the Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Felix Ohiwere, former spokesman for the former President Umaru Yar’Adua, Mr. Segun Adeniyi.

In his tributes to the late Alex Ibru, Oba Otudeko said: “Those who knew Alex know that he was a very deep profound thinker, extremely strategic gentleman and a man of few words. He was a great creative and innovative strategist. From what he achieved, Alex Ibru clearly was to this nation a pillar and someone who stood for values that are enduring. He built institutions and he touched many lives.

“We thank God for his life. We thank God that he has a heritage. May the Lord bless his heritage. Of course, he has already immortalised himself when he was alive because we are all remembered by what we have done. So we all know what the heritage he has left behind.”

Also, Olu Onagoruwa said: “Dear Alex, I had hoped and prayed you and I would spend more precious and lovely times together, but God always has His own plans. Rest well now and God bless you.”
Onasode stated: “Indeed, the memory of the righteous is blessed. Our brother, rest in peace.”
In the words of Ofonagoro, “May his soul rest in perfect peace. He will be long remembered for his pioneering role in entrenching press freedom in Nigeria.”
-Sunwp_posts