Accra, Oct.27, GNA – Parliament on Thursday observed a minute of silence for Nigerian First Lady Mrs Stella Obasanjo and the 117 victims of the recent air disaster in that country.
Mr Ebenezar Begyina Sakyi-Hughes, Speaker, gave a solemn touch to the end of members’ contributions on the two unrelated deaths. Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, had read a statement on the floor soliciting sympathy for Stella and those who lost their lives in the accident.
He said The National Investment Bank (NIB) had lost many of its senior staffs that were on an official trip to Abuja the Nigerian capital.
The Deputy Minister, who is also the member for Ejisu Juaben, mourned for General Diarra, the Malian peace-broker, who worked for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He said General Diarra had used his exceptional negotiation skills to broker peace in the Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Dr Paa Kwasi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reforms, said the death of Mrs Obasanjo was painful “under whatever circumstance”. The Nigerian First Lady is believed to have given up the ghost during a cosmetic surgery in a Spanish clinic.
He said during his tenure as the Minister for Regional Co-operation he met and interacted with some of the victims and ‘I think they were great people”.
Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, the Minority Leader, expressed sorrow at the loss of “high quality human resource”. He said: “I passed through the airport (Mutala Mohammed International Airport) the day after the accident and the environment was so pitiful and sorrowful.”
Mr Sakyi-Hughes formally conveyed the House’s condolence to President Obasanjo of Nigerian on his personal loss and that of his country. 27 Oct. 05
Source: GhanaWeb
