The Coalition for the Immortalisation of Professor Humphrey Nwosu has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immortalise the former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), the late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, by bestowing upon him a deserving national honour, such as the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) or Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), among others.
The former NEC chairman, Nwosu, passed away on 20 October 2024, aged 83, with the final burial programmes scheduled by the family to take place between 25 and 28 March 2025.
The coalition also urged the Governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, “to act on his conviction on this matter like a Professor and his Governor,” noting that his Enugu State counterpart, Peter Mbah, was set to host a high-level National Colloquium as part of the final burial programmes in honour of the former NEC boss.
The convener of the coalition, Collins Steve Ugwu, made the call on Tuesday at a press conference in Lagos. He described Nwosu as the author and finisher of Nigeria’s freest and fairest election in history, held on 12 June 1993, and the unbent proclaimer of that election, deserving of honour and recognition.
Speaking at the press conference, which was also attended and addressed by Mazi Chris Maduka and Chief Everest Ozonweke, Ugwu urged President Tinubu to initiate and ensure that a national monument is named after the former electoral boss. He suggested that the Independent National Electoral Commission headquarters (INEC) in Abuja be renamed to “truly show that there was once a great Nigerian who served independently there, with exemplary courage, purpose, and fortitude.”
Ugwu further called on Tinubu to name a prominent road or National Freedom Park in Abuja after the deceased, whom he described as the inventor of Option A4—a yet unrivalled fraud-proof electoral process—and an unsung hero and pathfinder of Nigeria’s best efforts at electoral integrity, globally acclaimed yet locally unappreciated.
“We, therefore, most respectfully call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of this country, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to boldly reward the delicate and elaborate selflessness of Professor Humphrey Nwosu by, among other things, considering the special conferment of a deserving national honour, such as the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) or Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).
“We trust the President to rise to this overdue responsibility, remarkably endorsed by the providence of his position today as the democratic President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“To initiate and ensure that a national monument is named after him, for example, the Independent National Electoral Commission headquarters in Abuja, to truly show that there was once a great Nigerian who served independently there, with exemplary courage, purpose, and fortitude. Nigerians agree and know who that person is, and now was.
“To name a prominent road or National Freedom Park after him in the Federal Capital City.
“To intentionally and deliberately associate his name and essence with the national celebrations of 12 June as Democracy Day in this country, in order to effectively cement it as a wholesome and inclusive act of value and cohesion.
“If you continue to cut and celebrate a special cake of history without a proper mention of the designer, it will continue to be a celebration denied a soul and purity. Nigeria, under this President, should lift her gaze beyond this depressive anomaly and cast a better net of elegance on 12 June.
“We earnestly thank the President in advance for this correction and sensitivity, because only he can confidently heal this sore outrage,” he said.
“At the state level in Anambra, where Professor Nwosu was native, we are expectant that the Governor of the State, His Excellency Professor Charles Soludo, a confessed and popular solution driver, a colleague professor of repute, and a cerebral social scientist of the same faculty at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, will act as deserved for a kinsman of such status and identity as Professor Humphrey Nwosu.
“We actually do not need to preach to him, we believe, but urge him to act on his conviction on this matter like a professor and his governor. Already, the Governor of Enugu State is set to host a high-level National Colloquium in his honour, which will take place on 21 March 2025, at the Enugu Campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka,” he added.
“In conclusion, we restate that Professor Humphrey Nwosu, as that wine of candour from a deep wine press, deserves preservation and honour. He represented the bold spectrum of what a credible electoral umpire was and should aspire to be.
“He humanised our election experience in a way no one has come close to, by stamping an authority of simplicity, transparency, and integrity on NEC, derived from citizens’ inspirations and stellar application.
“He was very different from the graphic epicentre of fraud and mercantile manipulations that the body has continuously degraded into. Please, let us put virtue back into the violence INEC has become since his exit, by returning honour to a man who deposited and warehoused chastity in that house.
“We can, and should, no longer be at ease as violators devour and ravage a sacred institutional democratic heritage that NEC was under Professor Humphrey Nwosu. We believe it is spiritual and human to right a wrong and make a crooked way straight by simple atonement and inclusion,” he further added.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE