Posted by By GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka on
Ikemba Nnewi and leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Monday debunked reports that he was critically ill, stressing that he is hale and hearty.
Ikemba Nnewi and leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Monday debunked reports that he was critically ill, stressing that he is hale and hearty.
Ojukwu, who spoke to Daily Sun at the Holy Rosary Specialist Hospital and Maternity, Waterside, Onitsha, Anambra State, where he is having "bed rest," said he nearly fainted in the church on Sunday due to poor ventilation and inhalation of the incense used during the church service.
The former Biafran warlord had accompanied Governor Peter Obi to the Basilica of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Onitsha, for the governor's thanksgiving service when, according to him, he almost fainted and was taken to the hospital.
By Monday morning, the report of his collapse in some daily newspapers sparked a number of rumours, with some claiming that his health had deteriorated, while others went as far as suggesting he was dead.
However, when Daily Sun visited the hospital on Monday afternoon, Ojukwu was all smiles, chatting with some friends. Many concerned people were also in the hospital wanting to see him but met stiff resistance from the hospital management.
Confronted with news of his alleged critical health situation, Ojukwu, in his usual jovial nature, said: "Well, I don't know what I have to say. Look at me. Do I look critically ill? I don't feel critically ill, I feel all right. I nearly fainted in the church, everybody who was in church yesterday (Sunday) knew one thing at least, that it was pretty, pretty close within the church. And once the incense started, it was too much for me."
The APGA presidential candidate in the April election, who also said he watched the Nigerian-Chile match on Sunday, to buttress that he was not critically ill as reported, noted that he would have been in his house by Sunday evening, but for the insistence of the doctors, who wanted him round for close watch. He praised medical personnel of the hospital for their diligence.
Said Ojukwu: "But frankly speaking, I never knew we had a group who are so dedicated men and women as medical staff of this hospital. And as far as am concerned, if I had another choice to make, I will say take me back to Holy Rosary. In every way they have satisfied me."
Ikemba Nnewi thanked the people of Nigeria for showing concern over his health, assuring them that he feels all right.
Governor Obi and some members of the Anambra State government cabinet visited Ojukwu on Monday.