It is five years down the lane, but for the children of the late Board Of Trustee (BOT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Anthony Anenih, also known as Mr Fix It, it seems like yesterday as they gathered to reflect on the life and times of their departed father as well as many things he thought them.
The event, which began in the early hour of the day at the St. Paul Catholic Church, Airport Road, Benin City, saw the who is who in the political firmament in the country who came to honour his memory.
The ceremony later shifted its base to the palatial residence of the late political big tree that shielded the party, where dignitaries were treated to mouthwatering dishes.
Truth Live News reporter who covered the ceremony reports that the children were all dressed in white, reflecting the fulfilled and unblemished life their late father led on earth.
The children, who never hid their feelings about how they have carried on all these years, spoke to Truth Live News about the uniqueness of their late father, who they said lives on.
Speaking exclusively with Truth Live News, his eldest son, Anthony Anenih Jnr., said his father was a great man who has taught them how to place the interest of others above their own personal interest.
“He was a great a man, and I think it’s proper to honour him. Every day, people come to us to say, if your dad were alive, things would not be the way they are with the party, with the country.
” So, we just decided to honour him and even though if nobody had said that, we would have done the same anyway. He was a great man, and we needed to honour him.
“The way my dad brought us up, he always told us that we have to take care of even people outside the family, and that is what exactly I have done, and whatever is left for us, we decide on what should be done with it, and everyone is happy, that is my philosophy as well.
“The people come first. Always think of them; it has nothing to do with your immediate family or what you can get from politics or for your position, always looking out for the people of the state and the nation”, Anenih Jnr. said.
He told Truth Live News that he missed so many good things about his late father. “I missed his love, his personality, his jokes, his bringing people together, solving problems, making people happy and doing his best for the nation”, Anenih said. When asked about who to fit into the big political shoe the BOT left behind, he said, “Not me, definitely. We hope somebody will come up and make a difference.”
Also speaking, the first daughter of the political heavyweight, Mrs Christy Bora, said her late father meant different things to different people. “Chief Anthony Anenih was a different thing to different people.
“To the politicians, he was the Mr Fix it. To the widows, he was the husband of the widows. To the fatherless, he was their father. To students, he was their scholarship personified.
“You know, I remember him today with gladness because he had mentored us his children to be of good character, and that is why you see us today in harmony, in peace, even the cord that is joining us together is stronger now than when he was alive because what he has taught us in humility and in respect for one another.
“I pray that this legacy will live on, and I also pray that all that he stood for during his lifetime, one day, will be meant in this country called Nigeria.
I hope that the politicians of today will also learn to be selfless because my father was selfless; he had so many children, we are about 15, and he lost one, but he never enriched us with the riches of the common man; instead, he gave his selfless service to Nigerians, and I pray that one day, it will be so with the present day Nigeria that anyone in power will want to serve the common man and that the riches and the wealth meant for Nigerians will not to be shared among families and friends”, Bora said.
For Iriale Anenih, he said his late dad didn’t joke with his children’s health and education, adding that he took them seriously and that he really misses him sorely.
Truth Live News reports that the lecture’s theme, which is the first of its kind, is titled “The Imperative of Leadership.”