Chu Okongwu, renowned economist and a former minister of finance, is dead.
He passed away on Wednesday morning aged 87.
Born in Anambra State in 1934, Okongwu studied economic theory at Boston University and completed the degree in 1961. He also attended Harvard University from 1961 to 1965.
He served for eight years in the administration of Ibrahim Babangida, former military head of state; firstly as minister of finance from 1985 to 1986, and later as minister of national planning from 1986 to 1990. He subsequently served as the minister of cabinet affairs, and later, as the minister of petroleum.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard in 2013 at the age of 79, Okongwu described his health as being “as good as it can be at my age”.
“I still manage to do three miles of walk every day; that is four days a week and, from head to toe, there are usual old age problems, but I think I am happy to be around. I have no plans of wasting my time on chonyi, chonyi, chonyi… every minute of my God’s given time on earth. I have been usefully engaged in something productive,” he had said.
