BENUE: Jerry Agada, former Education minister, is dead

CHAIRMAN Benue State Civil Service Commission and former Minister of State for Education, Prof. Jerry Agada is dead.

Agada was said to have breathed his last on Tuesday morning at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Makurdi.

Though the cause of his death was unknown as of the time of filing this report, Vanguard Newspaper reported that a close family source disclosed that he took ill two weeks ago and was on admission when he passed on.

No official statement has been made by the family of the “deceased” either.

Agada in his lifetime served as former President of Association of Nigeria Author, ANA, and Chairman, Governing Board of the National Commission for College of Education, NCCE.

Among other books, he wrote a popular book ‘The Successors ” recommended by Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) as one of the texts for the Use of English in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Born on 11 November 1952 at Orokam in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, Prof. Agada, a career civil servant was appointed the Executive Secretary, Benue State Examinations Board, 1996.

He rose to the peak of his career and became Permanent Secretary, Benue State Ministry of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture in 1999.

He served in the same capacity in the Ministry of Education, Benue State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Benue State Bureau of Political Affairs before his retirement in 2006.

He also contested the governorship election in Benue in 2007.