Izuchukwu Okosi
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Reminisces On Leadership Role Played By Nobel Laurette
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid glowing tributes to the late freedom fighter and Nobel laurette, Archbishop Desmond Tutu whose demise was confirmed on Sunday.
Tutu had struggled with poor health in recent years and was once rumouered to had died which turned out to be false.
Tutu was often hailed as South Africa’s moral conscience and the great reconciler of a nation divided by decades of racist politics.
In 1984, the Cleric won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid.
“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said ruefully on Sunday morning.
“He (Tutu) distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights,” Ramaphosa stated.
“He placed his extensive academic achievements at the service of our struggle and at the service of the cause for social and economic justice the world over.
“From the pavements of resistance in South Africa to the pulpits of the world’s great cathedrals and places of worship, and the prestigious setting of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Arch distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights.”
“He remained true to his convictions during our democratic dispensation and maintained his vigour and vigilance as he held leadership and the burgeoning institutions of our democracy to account in his inimitable, inescapable and always fortifying way,” the South African President further eulogised the late Tutu.
“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning,” Dr Ramphela Mamphele, acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and Co-ordinator of the Office of the Archbishop, said in a statement on behalf of the Tutu family.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
