Governor Nyesom Wike announced the renaming at Amadi’s funeral in Aluu community, Ikwerre Local Government Area. Describing the late literary giant as a great Nigerian who had done his nation proud in various fields and particularly with his literary works, the governor also promised to complete the Faculty of Humanity building named after him at the University of Port Harcourt. He said: “Captain Elechi Amadi was a great man and a nationalist, he has made us proud. I never saw him as an Ikwerre man or a Rivers man but as a nationalist. If the state had another university, I would have named it after him. He was everything and he can be honoured with anything. I wanted to name Ignatius Ajuru University of Education after him. But if I did that, some people would see it as politics. But from today the Port Harcourt Polytechnic has been named after him. On his part, Prof. Soyinka, while eulogizing the late Amadi, described him as an artist who reflected the conscience of humanity and justice in his literary works. Soyinka, in his condolence message to the family, also recalled moments he shared with the late writer after he was released by his kidnappers in 2009. He said: “Elechi Amadi, was a soldier, a poet and a captive of conscience. He represented human solidarity and justice. Elechi is gone, but his creativity remains as consolation, honouring its faithful servitors and filling us with gratitude for his passage. I recall those enraged, agonizing hours when the peace and sanctuary of his home were violated by kidnappers, mulled over the treasured moments I spent with him in the intimacy of his living.”]]>