Emir of Lafia: Buhari, Saraki mourn

Alhaji Isa Mustapha Agwai I, the Emir of Lafia and Chairman Nasarawa State traditional council of chiefs has died at the age of 84.
Alhaji Sule Abubakar, the “Ajiyan-Lafia” confirmed the death of the first class emir to newsmen on Thursday in Lafia.
According to the senior cabinet member of the emirate, the Emir died on Thursday at a Turkish Teaching hospital in Abuja following a protracted illness.
He said the Emir was coronated on May 28, 1974 and recently marked his 44th anniversary on the throne.
The late monarch is survived by three wives and two children.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the news of the passing of the Emir.
The President, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday, extended heartfelt commiserations to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on the demise of the Emir.
He also commiserated with the Lafia Emirate Council, the people of Lafia and Nasarawa State on the passage of the highly respected monarch who ascended the throne of his ancestors in 1974.
The President assured them of the fullest sympathy of the Federal Government as they mourned the chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Emirs and Chiefs and state chairman of Jama’tul Nasril Islam (JNI).
He said the late Emir would be fondly remembered for his exemplary leadership and tireless efforts at improving the lives of his people.
President Buhari affirmed that in the course of his remarkable 44 years on the throne, the Emir had devoted himself to championing inter-religious harmony, tolerance, peace building and conflict prevention as well as promoting the role of education in nation building.
While praying Allah to receive the monarch’s soul and grant him peaceful repose, the president also prayed that Allah would grant the people of Lafia a worthy successor.
The remains of the late Emir will be buried in Lafia, the state capital, on Friday.
Also, Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, expressed sadness over the demise of the Emir.
Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the late monarch as a grassroots reformer.
Saraki noted tbat Agwai worked meritoriously with the native authority administration and became the District of Obi before his ascension to the “Emir-ship stool of Lafia.”
“He was a man of peace and we shall all miss him,” he said.
He commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased, the Lafia Emirate and the people and government of Nasarawa State over the sad loss.
He prayed God “to count the soul of the late Emir among the righteous ones in Aljannah Firdaus and give his family and loved ones the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.