By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has revealed the unreported role that late Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe played during his lifetime that was not known to many.
Group Photograph: Father of deceased, Elder Shyngle Wigwe, with Sarkin Fulani of Lagos, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Bambado II, Leader and other members of Sultan of Sokoto’s delegation on Friday March 1, 2024.
He said he was patriotic and contributor to unity, progress and peaceful co-existence among people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds in Nigeria, aside being a known philanthropist of high repute.
The Sultan made this revelation via a condolence letter addressed to “The Family of Late Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe, CFR, Lagos”, dated 15th February, 2024 but delivered to father of the deceased, Elder Shyngle Wigwe, a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), by a high-powered delegation led by Sarkin Fulani of Lagos, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Bambado II, in Lagos on Friday March 1, 2024.
According to the letter, Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, who has stopped at nothing to see all Nigerians across ethnic and religious boundaries succeeding together in peace and unity, it was touching “tragic loss of Herbert Onyewumbu Wigwe, CFR, his wife Chizoba and son Herbert Jnr in a helicopter crash in United States on Friday 9th February, 2024.”
Addressing the Wigwe family in the letter, the Sultan described the death as “a great loss not only to you the immediate family but to the entire nation, the corporate world and humanity in general.
“We share in your grief as you mourn the passing of an internationally recognized businessman and a philanthropist of high repute.
“He will be remembered for his patriotism of unity, progress, peaceful co-existence and economic development of our great country Nigeria.
“We therefore wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to you over this monumental loss and urge you all to take heart, knowing that God Giveth and God Taketh. May God in His infinite mercy grant you the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss, amen,” the letter read.
