Mary, daughter of Benue State-born Wam Begha U Tiv (Son of a Lion), Senator Joseph Kennedy Waku Waku, has been speaking about her late father, stating that he was a man of the people.
“He was most definitely a man of the people. He was a loving father; he was selfless. He loved to help people, do for people and live for people. He was everything to us,” the late senator’s daughter said.
Her father, she said, was everything to the family.
Senator Waku passed away on Sunday evening at the Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre, Gudu, Abuja, having been referred from the National Hospital, Abuja where he died of a heart-related ailment.
“And his last moment was… because he was completely peaceful, but he was slightly at ease,” she noted.
Waku’s wife, Mrs Rosemary, a staff of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, wept profusely after confirming her husband’s death to Daily Sun in Makurdi.
Some of the early callers at Waku’s residence in Gwarimpa, Abuja, were former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhi, and a former senator representing Edo North senatorial district, Yisa Braimoh.
Born on June 12, 1946, Waku, until his death, was the pro-chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.
Waku was elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999 and represented Benue North/West Senatorial District in the Senate until 2003.
A former vice chairman of the northern socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Waku was the chairman of BERTCO Group Nigeria Limited, owners of BERTCO Motors Nigeria Limited.
Although a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Waku was a staunch supporter of Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom of the PDP until his death.