The family of late former Vice-President, Alex Ekwueme, led by his wife, Beatrice, and brother, Prof. Laz Ekwueme, on Thursday paid a thank-you visit to President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The visit followed the state burial given to the elder statesman in February.
Ekwueme, who was Vice-President from 1979 to 1983, died on November 19, 2017 and was buried on February 2.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting with the President, Laz and Beatrice, who were accompanied by some elders of Oko community, Anambra State, expressed gratitude to Buhari for approving a befitting state burial for the ex- Vice President.
Laz said: “We have come as family, his spouse, children, members of the family and cabinet of Oko community and other chiefs and friends, to say thank you to Mr. President for the work he did through the committee he set up, under the chairmanship of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the presence of the Vice President at the burial itself.
“And the immortalization they gave by renaming the Federal University, Ndufu Alike, in Ebonyi State, to Alex Ekwueme Federal University of Technology and all the other things they did towards making this burial a special one.
“And also in recognizing the little efforts that my brother made in building this country. We just came to say thank you to Mr. President and his cabinet.
“I did make a request on what they (FG) undertook to build – mausoleum for him and he (Buhari) said the SGF will be advised on that.
“Having immortalized the late former Vice President by naming the university after him, they should now complete the undertaking to build mausoleum for him at his place of residence. And it is best for us to undertake the construction ourselves otherwise, if we wait for the Ministry of Works to do that, that may take forever.”
