Hon. Stanford Onyirimba: Madonna High School classmates mourn loss of political leader

Members of the Class of 1977 of Madonna High School, Ihitte, Imo State, in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, have expressed shock and extreme sadness at the news of the passage unto glory of their classmate, High Chief (Dr) Rt Hon Stanford Onyirimba, a former Majority Leader of the Imo State House of Assembly.

In a statement by Chief (Sir) Chima Ugo, Chairman, Board of Trustees and Engr (Sir) Tony Nnorom, President of the Madonna 77 Class, the group said that Hon. Onyirimba, a highly respected Knight of St. Christopher “was until his death, a very resourceful member of our class and indeed our proud point of reference for the contribution of our class to the political development of Nigeria.”

The statement, dated March 12, 2022, stressed that High Chief Onyirimba, 

who was in 2019 appointed a Commissioner in the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, ISOPADEC, “served Imo State and humanity very diligently, becoming the majority leader of Imo State House of Assembly at the start of the present political dispensation in 1999.”

Some members of the Madonna Class of 77 paid him a courtesy call to congratulate him on the appointment as Commissioner in ISOPADEC as seen in the picture above. High Chief Onyirimba is seen in the middle in the picture, flanked by some of his classmates.

The Class noted in the statement that the grassroots politician and community leader remained, until his demise, “an astute politician and a high-ranking leader in the political firmament of his immediate Ehime Mbano constituency and Imo State in general.”

Lamenting the loss of their classmate further, the group said, “though heart broken, we however give all glory to God for the productive life of Rt Hon. (Dr) Stanford and for the opportunity we had to be with him in life from 1973 when we were admitted to Madonna High School, Ihitte to when we left in 1977” and to when he transited to be with his maker.

“We urge all, especially his immediate family to take heart. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amen,” they prayed.