The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has expressed sadness at the passing of Chief Matthew Tawo Mbu, whom he describes him as a nationalist, elder statesman, a globalist, and a true diplomat.
Matthew Mbu, the President noted, lived an exemplary life of service to Nigeria.
In a statement signed by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan said Mbu was “an icon of the legal profession and the Diplomatic Corps, who served Nigeria selflessly as a Minister; as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and in several other capacities.”
He added: “Many will remember the late Dr. Matthew Mbu for his many diplomatic assignments, but I remember him for his calm disposition and mature contributions which helped Nigeria through difficult times between 1967 and 1970 and then again in 1993 during the June 12 political crisis when he served Nigeria as Minister for Foreign Affairs.”
Jonathan further observed that the late Mbu’s contributions to Nigeria are enormous and that he was indeed one of Africa’s major voices in the global arena in the last five decades.
“His death”, the President added, “is a great loss not only to the Mbu family of Boki in Cross River State, his immediate family and his extended political family but an irreplaceable loss to Nigeria as a nation. On behalf of myself, my family and the government and people of Nigeria, I extend my condolences to the Mbu family in general and to his wife, Katherine, and the children. May his soul rest in peace.”