The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has lamented the death of Nigerian-born, world acclaimed literary giant, Prof. Chinua Achebe.
The party described his passage as a "monumental national loss."
The party said Achebe would be greatly remembered for his unwavering anti-corruption stand, his efforts towards promoting high moral values in the country as well as his contributions toward national development.
This tribute was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, in Abuja on Friday.
Metuh said the party received the news of the death with deep sadness, saying the literary icon left when the nation needed his wise counsel the most.
The statement said, "Achebe was a rare gift to the nation. He was a hero and a great patriot, who used his intellectual and physical energies to wage an unrelenting war against corruption and championed the inculcation of true moral values and social integrity in our polity."
Metuh urged the Federal Government to honour Achebe's numerous contributions to the nation by immediately commencing work on the rehabilitation of Enugu-Ogidi-Onitsha road, which passed through his home town, Ogidi in Anambra State.
He also urged the Federal Government to take steps to immortalise the literary giant.
Describing Achebe's death as a national loss, Metuh commiserated with President Goodluck Jonathan, the government and people of Anambra State as well as the literary world and the academia.
He condoled with the Achebe family and prayed that God should give the bereaved the fortitude to bear the "irreparable loss."
