Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, yesterday, unveiled a statue of the former Chief of General Staff, Vice-Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, in Fugar, Etsako Central Local Government Area of the state, to immortalise him.
Speaking at the ceremony, Oshiomhole said: “Everybody has the opportunity when alive to define how he wants to be remembered, and whether people remember or not, there are things that make it impossible for people to forget.
This road on which we are hosting the event was constructed, along with several other roads, by Admiral Akhigbe in nine months and one can only imagine if he had the privilege to live much longer, how much more he would have done. So, in Akhigbe, we had a leader who remembered that no matter how much privileges he had in life, he needed to give something back to his roots.
“I believe that all of us who are here today would be inspired by what is being done in his honour and to try to remember that we come from somewhere. It is a great honour to be here to unveil this statue in memory of our late brother and leader.”
He commended the chairman of the local government for deeming it fit to immortalize the late admiral, declaring that the state government was challenged.
He said: “Nothing can be too much for the leadership the late admiral provided us. I want to thank the people of Fugar for remembering their son and to see this crowd this hot afternoon waiting patiently for hours, shows that even in death, Admiral Akhigbe commands the respect of his people. May God bring more development to this community.”
Chairman of the local government area, Mr. Emmanuel Momoh, said immortalizing the late admiral was the least the council could do in view of his immense contributions to the development of the area government and the country.
In a remark, the son of the late Admiral, Mr. Ikhane Akhigbe, commended the state and local governments for the honour done to their father and expressed the indebtedness of the family to everyone.
A memorial mass had earlier been held at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in memory the late Chief of General Staff.
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