Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has renamed the Abia State Polytechnic after Dr Ogbonnaya Onu.
The institution will henceforth be known as Dr Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba.
Otti made the declaration at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, on Thursday when he received the body of the first elected civilian governor of old Abia State, Ogbonnaya Onu, at the inter-denominational service organized in his honour.
Otti who said that the death of Onu in April this year created a social and political void that will be very difficult to fill, condoled the people of Abia and Ebonyi states, particularly Governor Francis Nwifuru, Onu’s widow and children.
He described the former minister as an accomplished statesman and trailblazer whose remarkable run in politics offered him the platform to serve as the first democratically-elected governor of Abia State, Minister of the Federal Republic, former National Chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), a former presidential candidate and a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Abia governor recalled how Ogbonnaya Onu gave up the presidential ticket of the now defunct All Peoples Party (APP) in the build up to the 1999 general elections because of his belief in the long term unity of the nation.
“Dr Onu did not only lay the foundation for the dynamic and structured development of all parts of the state, he set up major administrative and service-delivery structures that are still functioning till today.
“Dr Ogbonnaya Onu’s administrative genius inspired the setting up of the Abia State Polytechnic Aba, the Abia State College of Education (Technical) Arochukwu, and the National Ambassador Newspaper.
“It is also important to recall that it was under Governor Onu that the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, now Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU), was established.
“It is on this note distinguished ladies and gentlemen that we as a State have decided to immortalize him by renaming the Abia State Polytechnic Aba after him.
“The Polytechnic will henceforth, be known as as Dr Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba,” Otti said.