Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, has described the Second Republic Senate President, Dr Joseph Wayas, as a colossus and his death, a great national loss.

Ngige said this in a tribute on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, the late Wayas was one of the young titans who moulded the building blocks for the presidential democracy which Nigeria adopted in 1979.

“In that Second Republic where he was elected President of the Senate between 1979-1983, he led a vigorous , vibrant and issues-based assembly.

”This gingered stability and attenuated to a great length, the teething challenges posed by the then nascent presidential system in government.

“My interaction with him dates back to 1977 as a young medical doctor and a unionist.

”He was also a young businessman and budding politician who will later make an effervescent presence at the Justice Udo Udoma-led Constituent Assembly in 1978.

“However, I started working closely with Dr Wayas when I served as an NYSC Medical Officer in the National Assembly Clinic, Victoria Island, Lagos, in 1980 and thereafter as Medical Officer; later, Physician to the Senate President between 1982 and 1983,” he said.

The minister said that watching Wayas conduct the affairs of the senate, his deft control of the vibrant cross party debates in the chambers had sharp impression on his youthful mind.

”Thus, my decision later in life to vie for the senate. An ambition I realised when I won a hotly contested senatorial election in 2011, to represent Anambra Central in the Seventh senate.

The only opposition senator from the old Eastern Nigeria.,” he said.

Ayu mourns Wayas, says he left bold prints on Nigeria’s political landscape

Ngige said the deceased was a man who devoted his political career, especially while leading the National Assembly to ensuring a just society, where Nigerians would be ruled by law rather than caprice.

He also said that the former senate president was a man who never sought to harness opportunities in his office for self-political gains.

The minister therefore, expressed his condolence with the government and people of Cross River State as well as the Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan, over the great loss.

”I pray God Almighty to grant him eternal rest and comfort the family he left behind,” Ngige said. (NAN)