By Fatima Saka
Nigeria has lost a rare intellectual and moral voice with the death of Distinguished Senator Okechukwu Ezea, Senator Victor Umeh has said, as the Senate on Wednesday held a valedictory session in honour of the late lawmaker who died on November 18, 2025, after a protracted illness.
Speaking during the session, Senator Umeh, who represents Anambra Central Senatorial District, described Ezea’s passing as a devastating blow to the National Assembly and to a nation in need of leaders driven by knowledge, conviction and empathy.
Umeh recalled that concerns about the late senator’s health became evident in mid-September 2025, when urgent calls for prayers began circulating among colleagues and associates. He said Ezea had been hospitalised in critical condition, prompting frantic efforts by friends and clerics to seek divine intervention.
According to him, special prayers were offered by senior Catholic bishops during a conference in Nsukka after the gravity of Ezea’s illness became known.
“I visited him on his hospital bed and spoke with him for almost an hour. He was hopeful and courageous. He believed he would recover,” Umeh told the chamber.
Following initial stabilisation, the late senator travelled abroad for advanced medical care, first to Germany and later to London, in what Umeh described as a determined fight for survival.
“He fought this illness. He tried everything humanly possible, but it was ultimately not God’s will,” he said.
Senator Umeh also highlighted the unprecedented outpouring of grief from Ezea’s constituents, noting that communities across his senatorial zone mourned him as a personal loss rather than a distant political figure.
As Chairman of the National Burial Committee, Umeh said traditional rulers, civil servants, professionals and ordinary citizens worked tirelessly to ensure the late senator received a befitting burial, a reflection of the organic bond he shared with his people.
Beyond politics, lawmakers paid special tribute to Ezea’s exceptional academic journey, describing him as a lifelong scholar who combined public service with relentless intellectual pursuit.
Ezea studied Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, undertook European Union studies, and served in the Nigerian Customs Service before earning a Bachelor’s degree in Law, a Master’s degree in Law, and later defending his doctoral thesis at the University of Lagos shortly before his death.
“Even while serving in the Senate, he never stopped learning,” Umeh said. “We have lost knowledge that was meant for the service of this nation.”
Colleagues further described the late senator as a man of unwavering integrity, empathy and conviction, who would rather stand alone than support injustice.
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“He was everybody’s friend, but he never compromised his values,” Umeh added.
The Senate observed a minute of silence in his honour, describing Ezea as a patriot committed to equity, fairness and national development, whose legacy of scholarship and principled leadership would endure beyond his years.
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