Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has mourned the death of 17-year-old Chisom Chukwuneke, who was the best candidate in the 2019 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in her school.
Chukwuneke, who got 7 As in the 2019 WASSCE, died of blood cancer (leukemia) in South Africa on October 18.
Her school, Graceland College in Enugu, confirmed her demise in a statement on Facebook.
“Forever in our hearts! Only a moment you stayed, but what an imprint you left in our Hall of Fame.
“A truly outstanding student! Rest In Peace Chisom!” the statement read.
Her distraught father, Felix Chukwuneke, took to the social media channel to pay tributes to his late daughter and reveal how she passed on.
“Just like a dream but the realities are crystal now. Just a pain on the leg that snowballed to a devastating episode, the battle started earnestly. I hear you call, ‘daddy my leg is paining me’. I watch as you lie abed with pain,” he began.
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“As restless and worried as I can be, I promised to do everything humanly possible. With glaring poor health care in Nigeria. Off we went to South Africa. We were happy at your initial recovery, not knowing the war was just to begin.
“We fought it together for more than a year in SA. You were an embodiment of intelligence of inestimable value. Above all an indefatigable personality, courageous in the face of glaring uncertainty. You were strong, philosophical.
“My strength even in sickness, you wanted your dad freed while you go on to rest. In the bosom of our Lord where there is no more pain. You spoke in parables about a special gift 10 days earlier and left a day to my birthday.
“Never did I know your gift you promised was your glorious exit. You exhibited virtuoso and dazzling intellects to the bewilderment of the doctors at Wits Donald Gordon Hospital, Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa,” Mr Chukwuneke, a lecturer, wrote.
Taking to Twitter, Atiku commiserated with the Chukwuneke family on their loss, saying he understood the pain of losing a child.
“As a father and grandfather, I know how painful it is to lose a child, especially one as exceptionally gifted as 17-year-old Chisom Chukwuneke.
“You don’t need to know her to feel the pains of her parents,” Atiku stated.