Colin Powell, first Black Secretary of State, dies at 84 of COVID-19

.Buhari, Obasanjo pays tribute to late Gen.

Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji

United States (U.S.) first Black Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, is dead.

Powell, also former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died Monday morning due to complications from COVID-19, his family announced. He was 84.

He was fully vaccinated, his family said in a post on his Facebook page.

“We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Centre for their caring treatment,” the Powell family wrote. “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American.”

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has offered deepest condolences to President Joe Biden, the government and the people of the United States, on the passing of the former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell.

According to  a statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Buhari believed that as the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the U.S. Department of Defense as well as the first African American Secretary of State, Powell was a great statesman and a global icon in every sense of it.

“The Nigerian leader recounts that as U.S Secretary of State, Powell played a very important role in advancing his country’s foreign policy and national defense interests. He was also a great advocate of the eradication of Polio and in addressing the deadly spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

President Buhari’s prayers and thoughts are with General Powell’s family and the people of the United States as they mourn the death of an exceptional leader and one of America’s greatest pride, who as a professional soldier, a distinguished public servant and an effective diplomat, gave his utmost for his country”, the statement read.

Also, the Former Nigerian President and High Representative of the African Union in the Horn of Africa, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has described the late former United States of America (USA) Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell as one who understood Africa during his lifetime.

Obasanjo said late Powell was indeed a trusted colleague and Comrade-in-arm, whose closeness as an African-American with the mother Africa assisted in the growth of the continent.

Powell, the first African- American to be appointed Secretary of State in the history of United States died early Monday morning at 84 due to Covid-19 complications.

In release by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, copy which was made to newsmen on Monday, Obasanjo said, “General Powell’s tenure in office marked a significant departure from the traditional relations between Africa and the United States.

“He was Secretary of State under the administration of President George W. Bush, Jnr, part of the time I was President of Nigeria.  He was not just an African-American, he was an African-American who understood Africa. That is what I found in him when he was Secretary of State.

“With him, among others, I have always seen advantage in the closeness of the African-Americans with the mother Africa. It is mutually good and beneficial for the Africans at home and for our brothers and sisters in diaspora in the US, Caribbean or Southern America.

“I cherished our relationship for the good of humanity in general and especially for the good of our race which collectively is the most abused, despised and disregarded race in modern history. He was indeed a trusted colleague and Comrade-in-Arm,” Obasanjo was quoted as having said.

The former President noted that the news of Powell’s death was received with sadness, stressing that, “his death is a great loss not only to his immediate family and to the United States of America but also to the entire world.

“Though the world, particularly Africa, would miss him, his legacies would continue to inspire many to reach the highest points of their productive, political and creative abilities. May God grant his soul perfect peace and rest,” Obasanjo stated.