Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described Former Head of the Interim National Government, the late Chief Ernest Shonekan, as a man of destiny who was chosen for his time.
Osinbajo, made the remarks in a tribute to Chief Ernest Adegunle Shonekan, GCFR”, at the State Funeral Service for the late elder stateman on Friday at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos.
The vice president said that Chief Shonekan lived his life always conscious of, and motivated by a burden of duty, as a citizen of considerable privilege, to give back, either in his many philanthropic and civic pursuits or in public service.
Known in the business community for his personal integrity and reliability, and trusted in the corridors of political power for his counsel and guidance by successive governments, Osinbajo said Ernest Shonekan had a position in Nigeria that few had before him or have now.
But none could have written the script of the dramatic series of occurrences that thrust upon him the role of the Head of State and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in one of the most turbulent chapters of our nation’s history and it became his lot to steer the ship of state in those extremely stormy waters.
He was in his own words compelled by a sense of duty and responsibility to accept the role and to give his best in shepherding his country through an experience unknown and unprecedented in our history.
In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) – a continuation of his life-long advocacy of free enterprise as well as a demonstration of his belief that national development is attainable only if the private sector and the public sector collaborate deeply. It summed up the professional duality of his own life as a businessman and statesman.
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In December 1996, he was appointed Chairman of the Vision 2010 Committee – a group of distinguished Nigerians from all sectors of national life charged with developing a blueprint for the country’s transformation by its fiftieth year of independent nationhood. It was an assignment to which he applied his customary dedication and diligence.
In the latter chapter of his life, the vice president says Chief Shonekan seamlessly assumed the mantle of an elder statesman. He was supportive of all governments and served his nation in this role far above the trenches of partisanship. His was a consistently calm and dignified presence in the sanctums of the National Council of State and a steady voice of measured counsel to all that sought him out.
Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie
