By our reporter| Tributes poured in from Nigerians on Sunday as they mourned the death of Innocent Chukwuma, a civil society leader and renowned human rights activist.
Chukwuma, West Africa director of Ford Foundation, died on Saturday in Lagos at the age of 55.
According to family sources, he was diagonised with acute Myeloid Leukaemia — aggressive cancer of the blood last week.
He was scheduled for a trip to the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday for a fellowship at the University of Oxford but delayed the move to enable him celebrate Easter with his family.
Chukwuma who joined Ford Foundation as its West Africa representative in 2013, was responsible for overseeing grant making in the region.
A globally recognised advocate for human rights and good governance, he was also the founder of Centre for Law Enforcement Education, popularly known as CLEEN Foundation, the first African non-governmental organisation to receive the MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Chukwuma was also the director, international lobby program, Civil Liberties Organization.
Ekiti state governor and chairman of Nigeria’s governor’s forum, Kayode Fayemi, described the death of Chukwuma as a “devastating shock”.
“Still distraught from Yinka Odumakin’s demise, Bisi and I woke up to the most devastating shock of Innocent Chukwuma‘s death. Inno was an outstanding colleague and friend from our days at the barricades,” he tweeted on Sunday morning.
Senator Shehu Sanni tweeted, ”Innocent Chukwuma; another tragic loss of a patriot. Death hath taken away one of the brightest. May his Soul Rest In Peace”.
”Oh my God! Innocent Chukwuma, the civil society guru formerly of Ford Foundation, is dead? Gosh! What a loss!! May his soul rest in peace”, Dr. Joe Abbah tweeted.
Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), described the death of Chukwuma as a great loss.
“I am devastated, yet again this weekend after Yinka Odumakin’s death, by that of my friend and younger brother Innocent Chukwuma, Regional Director of @FordFoundation West Africa. Nigeria, West Africa, Ford Foundation, and of course his family, have lost a great man,” he tweeted.
“Inno was the backbone of civil society in Nigeria. He often called on me as a keynote speaker at some of his convenings on the economy/ entrepreneurship, and we had agreed just a few weeks ago to collaborate on a new idea I had.”
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