By Caleb Tamunosaki
The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dikio (retd), has paid tributes to the first African graduate of the Harvard University in the United States, Professor Lawrence Baraebibai Ekpebu, who passed away on January 2, 2022.
Ekpebu, who also attended another Ivy League institution in the United States, Princeton University, was a renowned scholar and diplomat. He died at the age of 86.
Ekpebu, who hailed from Okoloba community in the Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was also Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the Ivory Coast.
Dikio, while paying a condolence visit to the family of the deceased in Yenagoa, on Sunday, described the late Ekpebu as a pride of the Niger Delta.
The PAP boss, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Nneotaobase Egbe, said as an illustrious academic and diplomat, Ekpebu distinguished himself in all endeavours, especially in service to Nigeria.
He said the sterling academic and diplomatic achievements of Ekpebu should be an inspiration to the youths of the Niger Delta, describing him as a symbol of what is possible in the region.
He said the iconic footprints he left in the sands of time would remain evergreen and encouraged the family to sustain it and also take solace in the legacies he left behind.
Dikio said, “Our departed Professor Lawrence Ekpebu was an accomplished scholar, diplomat and public administrator. His death is a big and painful loss to the Ijaw nation, Bayelsa state, Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole.
“He would be remembered for many positive things most especially his distinguished service to Nigeria and that is why we are so proud of him. We thank God for his life and times.
“So, I came here today to condole with his family, on behalf of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. I urged them to be strong and take solace in the fact that he lived a life worthy of emulation.
“Let me also use this opportunity to call on youths of the Niger Delta to see him as a source of inspiration and strive to achieve similar or better feats. Ekpebu was a symbol of the many possibilities in the region.”