“His Exit Would Create A Huge Void” – Atiku Reacts To Professor Shehu’s Death

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed shock and sadness over the death of Emeritus Professor and Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Institute of Virology, Umar Shehu.

Naija News reported that Umar died after a brief illness at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, at the age of 92.

In a statement he personally signed on Monday, Atiku described the death of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, as a colossal loss to the country and the field of medicine.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said late Shehu was an erudite scholar and a source of inspiration for members of the global academic community whose exit would create a huge void.

He stated that his achievements include being Northern Nigeria’s first professor of community medicine, Nigeria’s first emeritus professor, the first president of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a one-time editor of the British Medical Journal, among others.

Atiku, therefore, commiserates with members of his family, the Government and people of Borno State, the Borno Elders’ Forum (BEF), the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the global academic community.

He wrote: “It is with sadness but submission to the will of God that I received the news of the passing away of Prof. Umaru Shehu (CFR). Prof. Shehu was a towering figure not just in Nigeria but in the global academic community.

“It is worthy to note that Prof Shehu, whose glorious career spanned several decades and across many universities, was a one-time Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

“He was also Northern Nigeria’s first professor of community medicine, Nigeria’s first emeritus professor, the first president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, and a one-time editor of the British Medical Journal, among others.

“The distinguished Prof. Shehu was an erudite scholar and a source of inspiration for members of the global academic community whose exit would create a huge void.

“While I commiserate with members of his family, the Government and people of Borno State, the Borno Elders’ Forum (BEF), the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the global academic community to which he belonged, I pray that Allah, the benevolent and the merciful will forgive his shortcomings and grant him eternal peace.”