Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has expressed shock over the sudden demise of the vice-chairman of The Sun Group of newspapers, Dimgba Igwe.
The association expressed this shock in a letter of condolence to one of its members, the publisher of The Sun newspapers, Chief Orji Uzo Kalu.
“The circumstance of his death is devastating and confirms how cheap life has really become in our dear country.”
The letter issued by the General Secretary of NPAN, Comfort Obi, said the death of Igwe exposed the country’s incompetence as a country in many aspects.
“How do you explain that Dimgba was knocked down by a hit-and-run reckless driver as he jogged around his neigbourhood in the Okota area of Lagos. His cheap death has exposed our incompetence as a country, and the sorry state of our health sector. Where were the police men around the stretch? There was no street camera in spite of the millions of naira allegedly spent on the project. 48 hours after this numbing death, there is still no clue as to the make of the car, and/or the number plate. ”
“The first two hospitals Dimgba was rushed to couldn’t handle his situation. It was after he had painfully bled for hours that he was taken to an averagely competent hospital, by which time he has lost so much blood, and was unable to survive the surgery carried out on him. The hours between the time of the incident, and the surgery, were very crucial to his survival. Unfortunately, they were wasted. And he died.”
The association described Igwe as a “versatile journalist with career spanning over 30 years, most of which were in the critical period of the Nigeria Media history,” who would be remembered for his informed commentary , through his regular column, where he canvassed for “a better Nigeria, a society built on equity and justice.”
NPAN prayed that God grants Igwe’s family, the board, management and staff of The Sun newspapers the fortitude to bear the loss and urged the police and other security agencies to “quickly apprehend the reckless driver.”
