By joshua 
Appreciating Sacrifices of Prof. Stephen Ikani Ocheni, Former Federal Minister.
My Boss, my Mentor, My Daddy. Word’s are not enough to express my profound gratitude for your show of love to me and my family when we came visiting yesterday.
I’m deeply honored and humbled to have you as a wonderful support.
I can’t thank you enough for accepting to deliver the Kogi @ 34 Lecture. It is a great honor having a world class administrator, academic, erudite professor in your mould and a renowned professional accountant of repute, accepting to stoop low to our level. This for me is unprecedented.
Let me also appreciate you for the journey to Lokoja, inspite the challenging road situation, insecurity and logistics involved in traveling with a convoy of men and security agents. I’m overwhelmed and tears of joy have not ceased running down my eyes for this show of love. That I was around when close to half a million Naira had to be paid to the mechanic that fixed your Hilux vehicle following the burnt gasget while coming to Lokoja, deserves my eternal support and assurances now and always.
This is from the bottom of my heart stating that you have once again proven that there are rare men in the world. I do not take for granted your immeasurable sacrifices for me and the Nigerian Post.
Accept my deepest thoughts and appreciation to your family and I pray God Almighty grant you good health, strength and longevity on earth.
Permit me to equally appreciate Prof. Salisu Usman Ogbo, Rector, Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja, another positive brand of today and tomorrow’s Nigeria, who stepped in with a vehicle to convey your security to Okene, to attend the burial program of the father of Gov. Usman Ahmed Ododo. Prof Ogbo, our singular appreciation to you will come after now. Continue in your trajectory of making Kogi State Polytechnic a brand, envied amongst it peers.
We in the Nigerian Post, will continue to Mourn the passing away of Alhaji Ahmed Momoh Sani Ododo, our esteemed and beloved father, who died at the age of 83. To our amiable Gov. Usman Ahmed Ododo. Take solace in the life and times of your father. A good father begets a good son, your leadership at the helms and affairs of Kogi State, has proven that, Kogi is a positive work in progress, with several aspects of good governance and development yet to come for the good people of Kogi State.
To many other individuals who looked forward to the Nigerian Post Public Lecture and Awards, but postponed by reasons beyond our control, but in absolute respect to the Government and people of Kogi State, who in a period of mourning, I want to deeply appreciate you all.
Inspite the efforts, using all available means of information to inform our highly respected invited guest of the postponement, we are aware that hundreds still arrived the NUT Guest House Lokoja venue of the program. Accept our sincere apologies. A new date for next week would soon be disclosed, as I thank you all for your believe in our brand, the leading and widely read Newspaper in the country. I use this medium to urge us not to allow the momentum pre the program before the postponement die .
Once again, thank you Prof. Stephen Ikani Ocheni, former Minister of Labour and Employment,
Abu Michael
Publisher, Editor in Chief, The Nigerian Post Newspaper.