Kogi govt to immortalise Pius Adesanmi

The Kogi State government says it will immortalise the late Nigerian-born Canadian professor, Pius Akinsanmi, by making all his books available in its school libraries.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Rosemary Osikoya, disclosed this during a ceremony organised in honour of the deceased in Abuja.

She said his death came at a time when the state ministry was reaching out to Kogi scholars like Mr Adesanmi, who could help put the educational standard of the state on a high pedestal.

The commissioner said Mr Adesanmi represented what Kogi indigenes are known for as very talented people, adding that the scholar exemplified all the virtues “you would like to see in Nigeria’.’

She, however, said that the idea of naming the state library after him had not been muted. She said such a proposition would be encouraged and supported.

Also, Moses Babatunde, the traditional ruler of Isanlu where Mr Adesanmi hailed from, promised to organise an annual lecture in his honour.

“We will bring everybody from all walks of life to the lecture and that will encourage our youths to be able to write about the society and how the country can develop from where it is,” he said.

According to him, “we are going to immortalise Adesanmi, he will be remembered in the community that generations to come will be asking: who is Pius Akinsanmi?”

The monarch said he would discuss with his traditional council to see if the secondary school he finished from could be named after him.

He, however, added that if such a proposal was not possible, the community would build an institution to be named after him.

He lauded the impact made by the deceased in the community, especially at the secondary school he attended and by contributing to the development of Isanlu.

According to him, Mr Adesanmi touched so many lives and was always consistent with the truth, “sometimes you like him and sometimes you may not like him for the truth, but he will always tell the truth.’’

Mr Adesanmi died on March 10 aboard the ill-fated Ethiopian Airline, flight 302 which took off from Addis Ababa and was headed to Nairobi but crashed about six minutes after take-off.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that journalists, friends and others gathered to eulogise the virtue of the deceased with each paying glowing tribute to the late scholar.(NAN)