A former chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abuja chapter, Chuck Ehirim, is dead.
Ehirim died on his 50th birthday yesterday, his associates said. He was chairman of the Abuja chapter of NUJ between 2012 and 2015. Ehirim graduated in 1992 from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and worked with Tell magazine. He later returned to the same university where he obtained a master’s degree. The late Ehirim was the assistant editor, Northern Operations of The Niche Magazine before his death. A journalist, Chucks Ohuegbe said he called Ehirim’s wife to wish him a happy birthday, only to be informed of his death. “I’m totally gutted!” Ohuegbe wrote on Facebook.
Ehirim’s friend, Amos Dunia, also a former NUJ chapel chairman, described the death as “shocking and devastating”.
Meanwhile, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has expressed deep sorrow over Ehirim’s death, describing him as “one the of the most committed change agents that had identified with President Muhammadu Buhari’s struggle for a better Nigeria.” Shehu said this when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the deceased at their Pegi home in Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on behalf of the President.
“The late Ehirim’s passion for a better Nigeria was no less remarkable. He pursued this noble cause with unflagging zeal and sincerity.” He said  the late Ehirim  believed in a cause without expectations of pecuniary rewards, hence, he earned his respect.
While condoling NUJ over Ehirim’s death, Shehu also prayed to God to forgive the shortcomings of the deceased and reward his good deeds with heaven. He also prayed to God “to grant his family the fortitude to overcome the great loss.”