Dikko for burial Friday

A Second Republic Minister of Transport, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, who died on Tuesday in London, would be buried on Friday (tomorrow).

Family source had said that the corpse of the late minister, who died at age 78, would arrive Kaduna Tuesday on night and buried in Zaria on Wednesday.

However, a source told our correspondent that the body of the late minister could not arrive Kaduna due to logistics and diplomatic reasons.

The source, who crave for anonymity said, “We earlier made arrangement for his corpse to be conveyed from London to Kaduna but we were later told that we must go through official protocol before the release of the body. And we have done this and we are now expecting his remains to arrive Kaduna on Thursday and for burial on Friday.”

Meanwhile, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has expressed condolences to the people and government of Kaduna State on the death of Dikko.

In a statement signed by his Press Secretary, Mr, Felix Ofou, the governor described the late minister as a nationalist who was willing to sacrifice his life for the unity and survival of the country.

He said, “The late Alhaji Umaru Dikko will be remembered for his unusual candour and contributions in politics. Though sometimes controversial and misunderstood in the past, you cannot take away the fact that he was a true nationalist and who was ready to put down his life for the unity and survival of the country.”

Uduaghan also remarked that Dikko’s death signified the end of an era of colourful politics when politicians were noted for flamboyance and intelligent contributions to national discourse “as against what obtains now wherein people pull down others irrespective of their potential or quality of what they have to offer.”

He therefore urged politicians to embrace the “live and let live” philosophy of the late elder of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and prayed God to give the Dikko family, as well as government and people of Kaduna State the fortitude to bear the loss.