Memorial Services for Chinwuba, Justice and John

1. ACTIONAID International Nigerial Honors and Immortalises Departed Colleagues

ActionAid International Nigeria (AAIN) lost two staff (Mr. Chinwuba Egbe, Acting Education Team Leader and Mr. John Moru, Governance Team Leader) and a partner (Mr. Justice Egware, Policy Advisor of Civil Society Action on Education for All and Co-ordinator of Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) in the ill-fated Bellview airline crash on Saturday 22nd
November, 2005.

We have planned the following programmes to honour and immortalize our colleagues:

Memorial service: A memorial service will be held for the three departed colleagues in Abuja on Saturday 5th November, 2005 at Zuma Hall, Rockview Hotel Extension at from 4.00-9.30pm.

Chinwuba, John & Justice (CJ2) Family Support Fund: Donations are solicited for this fund to assist with the education of their children and support to their wives and parents. A dedicated account is being opened for the fund. The proposed trustees of the Fund are Dr. Otive Igbuzor (Country Director, AAIN), Ms. Amina Ibrahim (Special Adviser to the President on MDGs), Ms. Felicia Onibon (Moderator, Civil Society Coalition on Education for All) and Mr. Taiwo Ajose (Head of Finance, AAIN).

Reflections of Three Patriots on Development: A book of the articles written by the three of them will be published.

Collection of Tributes: There will be a collection of the tributes on them which will be published.

Burial ceremonies: ActionAid International Nigeria will participate in burial ceremonies that will be organized by the three families. The burial ceremony of John Moru has been fixed for Friday 28th October (Wake keeping) and Saturday 29th October, 2005 (funeral service) at Igarra, Akoko Edo Local government Area of Edo State in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The burial ceremony of Chinwuba Egbe has been fixed for Thursday 3rd November (Wake keeping) and 4th November, 2005(Funeral service) at Egbe’s family compound in Aku, Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State. The dates for Justice Egware will be communicated later.

Programme at the Nigeria Social Forum: A programme will be organized in their honour in the Nigeria Social Forum slated for 14th-18th November, 2005 at NYSC camp in Lagos.

We wish to acknowledge the solidarity of colleagues, friends and partners across the world. We are strengthened by your show of love.

We covet your presence in these programmes to honour our departed colleagues.

Otive Igbuzor
Country Director, AAIN

2. Action Aid International and SANGOCO holds Memorial Service

It is with a deep sense of loss, sorrow and grief that we announce that
two of our Staff Mr. John Moru (34 years) and Mr. Chinwuba Egbe (34
years); and our partner Mr. Justice Egware (36 years) were in the
Bellview plane crash of Saturday 22 October 2005 which was going from
Lagos to Abuja in Nigeria. There were no survivors from the plane crash
with 117 people on board.

Mr. John Moru (Governance Team Leader) and Mr. Justice Egware, the
Nigeria GCAP Co-ordinator and Policy Advisor of Civil Society Coalition
on Education for All (CSACEFA) were returning from Lagos where they
attended Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) Nigeria publicity
campaign and Mr. Chinwuba Egbe (Ag Education Team Leader and
Co-ordinator of Stepping Stones and REFLECT (STAR) was on his way back
from Uganda after training on STAR.

John and Justice were both activists, dedicated to the fight against
pervading poverty in the midst of plenty in Nigeria, denial of political
and human rights to the people, and the threats of international
capitalism. They were both in the forefront of the global call for
action against poverty (GCAP) campaign in Nigeria.

Chinwuba was a grassroots man to the core and was 'at home' amongst the
poor and excluded, discussing and helping to shape issues of common
interest and empowering them through participatory approaches.

So, they died in the battle to eradicate poverty from the face of the
earth and to engender justice and equity. They died actively proclaiming
the banners of equity for Nigerians, and fighting bravely for the
emancipation of poor people. John is survived by a wife and a daughter
while Justice is survived by a wife and a son.

These young men have contributed in no small measure to the modest
achievement of ActionAid International Nigeria. John contributed to the
emergence of a strong governance team in ActionAid International Nigeria
(AAIN) and the initiation of the Nigeria Social Forum (NSF). Similarly,
Chinwuba contributed to many poor peoples livelihood through the Reflect
Project in more than 30 communities in Nigeria. Justice not only
sustained the growth of the National Coalition on Education (CSACEFA)
but also contributed to the building of the organisation as a strong
force in educational issues in Nigeria with a view to bringing the
'voice' of civil society into national discourse. In addition, Justice
was in the forefront of the struggle for the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria through the MDG
Campaigns.

We - SANGOCO, the Global Campaign for Education - South Africa and
ACTION AID INTERNATIONAL having been working on these issues with the
comrades and will sorely miss them for their warmth and honest
contribution to the plight of the poor and marginalized in all our
communities.

A memorial service will take place this Thursday, 27 October from 13h00
to 14h00 to honor the memory of our lost colleagues.

Friends in the Johannesburg area are welcome to attend a memorial
service to be led by Bishop Paul Verryn of the Johannesburg Central
District.

The service will be held at the Methodist Church, No. 114 Rissik Street,
Methodist House, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

May their souls rest in peace.

For more information:

Wole Olaleye
Regional Policy Coordinator
Southern Africa Partnership Programme (SAPP)
ActionAid International
2nd Floor, Rosebank Arena 3
Cradock Avenue , Rosebank, Johannesburg
Tel: +27 11 880 0008
Fax: +27 11 880 8082
Email: [email protected]

Hassen Lorgat
Campaigns and Communications Manager
South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)
Tel:0027 11 403 7746
Fax:0027 11 403 8703
Mobile: +27 82 411 2946
email:[email protected]
URL:www.sangoco.org.za