A former official of the United Nations (UN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu on Saturday described the late Kofi Annan as a man who lived a great life.
Moghalu, a presidential aspirant of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made this declaration in his tribute to Annan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Annan, the 7th UN Secretary General between 1996 and 2007, died on Saturday at the age of 80.
The late Ghanaian diplomat, was a recipient of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize and led the UN through some of its biggest reforms in order to build a stronger, more capable organization.
In a tribute sent to NAN in Lagos, Moghalu said: “In April I started my tribute to Kofi Annan on his 80th birthday with this quote: “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to go there.
“These are the powerful words from Mr Annan himself; words that have made an indelible mark on both my professional and personal lives.
“On a personal note, I have long admired his adventurous spirit, one that he encouraged in me and others, to seek divergent career paths that ultimately would make for a better employee, and a better organization.
“He himself had taken a circuitous route to his role as leader of the world’s most important body, and he left a strong mark. Long after Mr Annan left, he was spoken of fondly by staff who remembered not just his work, but his calm, intellectual personality that was a much-needed influence in the organization.
“In my tribute, I wrote that his was a “life of consequence”, not merely because he, like, Nelson Mandela, had achieved the feat of projecting a positive role model for black African excellence like few others had, but because he also sought to change the world—and did.
“Like millions of people around the globe, I will miss this great man. My sympathies and condolences to his family, his wife Nane Annan, his children, and to the people of Ghana who have lost a well-respected elder statesman,” Moghalu stated. (NAN)
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