Tam David-West dies at 83

* Says ex-Petroleum Minister had indomitable spirit

Former Minister of Petroleum and Energy under the Muhammadu
Buhari military regime, Professor Tamunoemi Sokari David-West, is
dead. David-West was 83.

President Muhammadu Buhari who received news of his passing with
shock has described the late Minister as a man with an indomitable
spirit.

In a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari, who said the consultant virologist
of national and international standing, was his ally and friend,
noted that the man he usually calls “the indomitable Tam
David-West,” truly had an indomitable spirit.

According to him, the former Commissioner of Education in the
old Rivers State, Minister of Petroleum and Energy under the
Muhammadu Buhari military regime, and Minister of Mines, Power and
Steel under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime, “had an indomitable
spirit, stood resolutely by whatever he believed in, and was in a
class of his own as an academic, author of many books, and social
critic.

He commiserated with the David-West family, the people of
Buguma, Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State, the academia, and all
those who loved “the forthright Tam David-West.”

President Buhari prayed that God will rest the soul of the
committed nationalist, urging all those who believe in the ideals
he espoused to follow his example for the good of Nigeria and
humanity in general.