Immediate-past representative of Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has described the former Minister of Petroleum, late Professor Tam David-West, as a great man, who affected people in many different ways.
He said the late David-West was one of the founding fathers of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), having served as a member of the merger committee that gave birth to the party.
Abe, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Parry Saroh Benson, further described the late Professor of Virology as an accomplished scholar who had a sense of justice and a commitment to truth that never wavered.
The senator said: “Yesterday I was at the University of Ibadan to attend the commendation service of late Professor Tam David-West.
For me, it was a very personal journey, Prof was a great man, he affected people in many different ways, as an accomplished scholar, a former commissioner and a two-time federal minister.
Politically, Professor Tam David-West was one of the founding fathers of the APC, as a member of the merger committee that gave birth to the party.
In all this, he had a sense of justice and a commitment to truth that never wavered.
For almost six months through a very turbulent period in my life, professor Tam David-West called me religiously every evening to say, “I just finished praying for you, don’t worry, you will be fine”.
I can write a book, about his integrity, personal discipline, spartan lifestyle that was completely at odds with our love of luxury and opulence.
The commendation service was classic, no long grammar, no wasteful expenditure, no unnecessary frivolity.
In an hour, thirty minutes it was all over and the great soul was on his way home.
A fitting farewell to a different kind of Leader.”
