President Muhammadu Buhari expresses deep sorrow at the passage of his ally and friend, a man he usually calls “the indomitable Tam David-West.”
In a statement signed by the presidential media aide, Femi Adesina,President Buhari said Professor Tamunoemi Sokari David-West, 83, was a consultant virologist of national and international standing. He served as Commissioner of Education in the old Rivers State, Minister of Petroleum and Energy under the Muhammadu Buhari military regime, and Minister of Mines, Power and Steel under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime.
“He had an indomitable spirit, stood resolutely by whatever he believed in, and was in a class of his own,” says President Buhari of the academic, author of many books, and social critic.
He commiserates with the David-West family, the people of Buguma, Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State, the academia, and all those who loved “the forthright Tam David-West.”
President Buhari prays that God will rest the soul of the committed nationalist, urging all those who believe in the ideals he espoused to approximate same, for the betterment of Nigeria, and humanity in general.
Meanwhile, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, has mourned the death of enigmatic Prof Tam David-West, who passed on in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 11, 2019 at the University College Hospital after a brief illness .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this was contained in a statement by Mr Olatunji Oladejo, the University’s Director of Public Communication, in Ibadan on Monday.
According to the statement, late David-West aged 83, was a retired Professor of Virology at the University, who has contributed immensely to the development of education in Nigeria.
The VC said, “the death of Late Prof. David -West is a big loss to the academic family all over the world.”
He noted that the vacuum left by the deceased would be difficult to fill.
Olayinka said “Late Prof David West was a mentor of many generations of virologists all over the world.