PETER Obi, the former governor of Anambra State, has described the death of Stephen Hawking, as a universal loss, because, in his view, “Hawking was a universal man, the type that was called “Uomo Universale” by the renaissance, not in terms of his love for the arts, but in terms of the cosmopolitanism of his life.”

Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author, and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. He died at the age of 76 on March 14, 2018, after many awards and for his seminal works in science.

Obi said he was engrossed with “My Freedom Day” activities on the day he died that he could not celebrate him. The former governor declared: “I should  mourn Stephen because that has become the perfunctory  word to describe people’s reaction to death in African eschatology, but in the real sense, lives like that of Stephen should be celebrated even in death.”

Besides his contributions to the development of science, Obi said that the lesson from his life is that we must not allow any form of disability to stand between us and success. He said he was overwhelmed by Hawking’s life, his achievements amidst a debilitating sickness whose terror was terrifying enough to cause one’s death and yet Stephen conquered it and marched on triumphantly to record outstanding success in his life.

Speaking on the value of the late scientist’s life, he commended him for remaining focused amidst the challenges of life and said he would remain a lesson to humanity, especially those challenged by one disability or the other that human will is so strong that if well cultivated could surmount any form of challenge.

Obi who acknowledged being beholden to Hawking, recalled  listening to his speeches, the privilege of meeting him on three occasions and what he called the conviviality of his heart despite what appeared as a retrogressive  condition

Acknowledged as one of the greatest scientists of all times, kings, queens and other potentates are mourning his death.

– Mar. 19, 2018 @ 11:55 GMT |