But for a dislocated arm from an injury sustained during a practice football game, Aaron, the eldest son of the late former minister of state for Labour and Employment, Barrister James Ocholi, would have also been involved in the accident that led to the death of his father, mother and younger brother.
LEADERSHIP gathered that Ocholi, who was returning from a church thanksgiving service in Kaduna, would have travelled with his eldest son, Aaron, but was forced to leave him behind after he sustained a dislocation on his right arm while playing football.
Meanwhile, Aaron, a young lawyer who was called to the Nigerian Bar in October, has vowed to sustain his father’s legacy in the legal profession.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Aaron was called to bar on the same day his father, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was screened by the National Assembly for his ministerial position and the late minister was unable to attend his son’s call to bar.
But at a reception organized for him by friends and well-wishers at the Sheraton Hotel on the same day, Ocholi had joked that as he was leaving legal profession to serve his country, his son would be taking over from him.
Just few months after making that statement, Aaron has now been forced by providence to shoulder that legacy. And while receiving the body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) in Abuja at the home of the late minister, he promised to keep up the legacy of his father.
The home of the late Ocholi was besieged by dignitaries yesterday who trooped in to commiserate with the family.
Some of the earliest visitors was the first lady, Aisha Buhari and Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello. Others included minister of labour, Chris Ngige; minister of sports, Solomon Dalong; minister of Interior, Gen. Danbazzau (rtd); minister of state for agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association; Senator Dino Malaye and a host of other dignitaries.
Meanwhile, the minister of labour and productivity, Chris Ngige has hinted that the federal government may immortalize the late Ocholi.
Ngige dropped the hint when he spoke with journalists after signing the condolence register opened in honor of the late minister of state, at the ministry in Abuja yesterday.
Ngige also declared a one day mourning and a work-free day for the staff in the ministry on Monday.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari had been dully notified about the sad occurrence.
Asked if there is any plan to immortalize him, the minister said: “Yes! I have written officially to notify Mr. President about his transition and I believe the federal government will work out something because he died in active service. This is the second time the country is losing a minister of state; I think in 1982, the country lost a minister of state who went to São Tomé.”
Ngige said the ministry would take care of the remaining members of Ocholi’s family and the staff of the ministry who sustained various degree of injuries in the accident.
On his attitude to work, Ngige described Ocholi as a round peg in round hole as far as the office of a minister for state for labour was concerned, adding that he was due to lead the Nigerian government’s technical team and that of Organised Labour to Geneva next week for a technical meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
He described his death as a “thunder bolt from the blue,” saying it was a very unusual thing for a minister to die along with his wife at the same time,.
“This is the first time and will likely be the last,” Ngige said.
In a condolence message signed by the minister, he said, “My brother and comrade in the struggle for a better Nigeria. You left us suddenly and without a word. I’m still shocked. We are consoled that in the brief period we worked as compatriots, you showed you were a true Nigerian and one who desired the maximum good for the common man. Adieu.”
Also, the minister of state for agriculture, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, who paid the labour minister a condolence visits, said, “This is the saddest thing that has happened to me this year and I pray something like this should not happen after James Ocholi.”
Meanwhile, a statement entitled “Labour and Employment Ministry mourns Ocholi,” and signed by the deputy director, Press, in the ministry, Prince Samuel Olowookere, stated that Ngige had declared Monday a work-free day of mourning in the ministry and its parastatals as a mark of honour for the late Ocholi.
According to the statement, Minister Ngige described Ocholi’s death as saddening, saying: “We have lost a legal luminary and community mobilizer with exceptional and visionary leadership skills, who has brought his wealth of experience to bear in the discharge of his responsibilities as the minister of state in the ministry as evident in the complementary role he played in the ongoing efforts at resolving industrial crisis in the oil and gas including the health sectors.
Ngige added that Ocholi left the labour sector at a time when the nation greatly needed his wealth of experience as an arbitrator and international negotiator, saying the vacuum created by his demise will be difficult to fill.
He prayed God to grant Ocholi, his late wife, Blessing, and son, Joshua, eternal rest, just as he extended his condolences to the Ocholis and the government and people of Kogi State.
Some members of the family who spoke to LEADERSHIP described the late minster as a loveable person who took the wellbeing of other very seriously.
A cousin to the late minister, Isaac Agbanwu, narrated how he met the minister last Thursday at his office where they had a discussion about a trip.
He said, “It was shocking and unexpected news. We were not expecting this but when it came we had to prepare our mind. We were together on Thursday, I was in his office, and our discussion was about a trip. I was to meet him to discuss with him before he travelled. I was expecting that, on Saturday, we will meet before he was supposed to travel.”
He said the extended family would now support the son to ensure he sustains the legacy of his father.
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