Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the death of the former Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, as another colossal loss to Nigeria at a point the country had needed his private counsel to deal with its current challenges.
Atiku Abubakar took over as Vice President from Akhigbe, who as Chief of General Staff was second in command to General Abdulsalami Abubakar played a key role in that regime’s programme for return to democratic rule in 1999.
Reacting to Akhigbe’s death in a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President recalled that Akhigbe’s remarkable contributions to Nigeria’s transition from military to civil rule, which lasted nine months, could not be easily forgotten.
According to him, the late Akhigbe was part of the team that contributed to the successful and faithful transfer of power to civilians on 29th May, 1999.
In Atiku’s words, “even from a distance, the late Chief of Naval Staff would come across as a cultivated gentleman. He was a broadminded and patriotic officer par excellence.”
Atiku Abubakar prayed to God to grant his family the fortitude to bear the great loss.