Innocent Chukwuma, a civil society leader and renowned human rights activist, is dead.
Chukwuma, West Africa director of Ford Foundation, died on Saturday in Lagos. He died at the age of 55.
He was said to have been diagonised with acute Myeloid Leukaemia — aggressive cancer of the blood.
He was to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday for a fellowship at University of Oxford but only discovered just last week that he had leukaemia and it turned out to be an aggressive one.
The UK trip was delayed to enable him celebrate Easter with his family.
Chukwuma joined Ford Foundation as its West Africa representative in 2013.
He was responsible for overseeing grant making in the region, supporting efforts to ensure that all people have equal access to economic and social opportunities.
He is a globally recognised advocate for human rights and good governance.
Chukwuma was also the founder of Centre for Law Enforcement Education, popularly known as CLEEN Foundation.
CLEEN was the first African nongovernmental organisation to receive the MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Chukwuma was also the director, international lobby program, Civil Liberties Organization.
Tributes have continued to pour in for the late civil society leader and renowned human rights activist.
Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, described the death of Chukwuma as a “devastating shock”. “Still distraught from Yinka Odumakin’s demise, Bisi and I woke up to the most devastating shock of Innocent Chukwuma‘s death. Inno was an outstanding colleague and friend from our days at the barricades,” he tweeted.
Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), described the death of Chukwuma as a great loss.
“I am devastated, yet again this weekend after Yinka Odumakin’s death, by that of my friend and younger brother Innocent Chukwuma, Regional Director of @FordFoundation West Africa. Nigeria, West Africa, Ford Foundation, and of course his family, have lost a great man,” he tweeted.
“Inno was the backbone of civil society in Nigeria. He often called on me as a keynote speaker at some of his convenings on the economy/ entrepreneurship, and we had agreed just a few weeks ago to collaborate on a new idea I had.”