Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has become one of the first set of prominent Nigerians to react to the death of elder statesman Prof. Chinua Achebe

“It is with great shock that, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, the governor of Imo state received the news of the unfortunate death of our dear Prof. Chinua Achebe,” said Okorocha’s media aide, Mr. Ebere Uzoukwa, in a statement released in Owerri, the Imo Sate capital, this afternoon.

“Prof. Achebe's demise is a colossal loss to Nigeria and Igbo nation having contributed eloquently in the education sector and overall nation building through his internationally accepted literary works, constructive criticism and of course his uncompromising war against social malpractices,” the statement said.

It said that “a literary giant with an extra-ordinary intellectual background, Prof. Achebe was no doubt an asset to Nigeria, and his death has created a vacuum in the literary world.”

While sympathising with the members of Achebe’s family, Okorocha urged the Nigerian Government “to immortalised his name as a great Nigerian.”

It would be recalled that the news of the death of Achebe (shown in photo) was broken this morning by News Express.