The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Saturday expressed shock and deep sadness over the death of “great boxing legend”, Muhammad Ali.
Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said Ali would be remembered as one of the heroes of the movement for black emancipation in the United States of America as he made sacrifices to prove his Black heritage.
Saraki said: “It is with great pain that I received the news of the death of one of the greatest African-American icon of our generation, Muhammad Ali. He may have gone but his many passion and humanitarian services will preserve his memory in my heart for a very long time.
“Ali who at birth was named Cassius Marcellus Clay was not only an enigmatic and colourful boxer, he was also a good and devout Muslim who devoted his life to the worship of Allah. There is no doubt that the fire of black nationalism he contributed immensely to ignite and promote led to the rise of many African-Americans in the context of their country and ultimately to the eventual emergence of President Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States.”
The Senate president commiserated with Nigerians who love the late Ali , President Barack Obama, all African-Americans, Africans in diaspora and the world in general for the painful loss of the boxing legend.
While praying Almighty Allah to grant the soul of the departed a place in Aljannah Fidaus, he called on his immediate family and loved ones to take solace in the fact that Ali lived a life worthy of emulation.
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