What Gov. Okowa said about passing of Grace Alele-Williams

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has extended his condolences to the family of renowned mathematician and Nigeria’s first female Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams, who died on Friday.

Alele-Williams died in Lagos. She was aged 89 years. Okowa, in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Olisa Ifeajika, on Saturday in Asaba, said that late Alele-Williams was a great role model to the female gender, which she inspired with her brilliance and diligence.

The governor joined family members, the academia and the Itsekiri nation, in mourning the renowned scholar and administrator, who in 1963 earned a doctorate degree and became the first Nigerian female to attain such academic height.

“On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I condole with the deceased’s family, the academia, the Itsekiri nation and people of Delta, on the passing of the renowned mathematician and scholar, Prof. Grace Alele-Williams.

“We received the news of her passing with shock, but thank God she lived a life of great impact.

“She was a great role model and worked assiduously to stamp out cultism at the University of Benin, where she was Vice-Chancellor,” Okowa said.

He noted that the late scholar’s drive and love for knowledge earned her many recognitions and awards in Nigeria and across the globe.

“Prof. Alele-Williams was an illustrious daughter of Delta, and only recently, we honoured her and other illustrious people of the state during the state’s 30th anniversary celebration.

“She would be greatly missed by those whose lives she impacted and inspired in very many ways,” Okowa said.

The governor prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed professor, and for God to comfort her family.