by Uchechukwu OlisahHowever, 22 years after his death, the condition of the family compound of the Allis in Emaudo, Ekpoma, in Edo central senatorial district of Edo State, unarguably, does not befit the status of a man who had governed a state hitherto known as Mid-West, the first and the only state in Nigeria that had so far been created by an Act of Parliament. Ambrose Alli built his own house in his father’s compound, adjacent to his own father’s house.
While Ambrose Alli’s father, Pa Omokhua Alli’s house, which he reportedly built when he was an army officer, has some life, with his father’s wife and stepmother, Madam Elizabeth Alli, and his late younger brother, Mr. John Alli’s wife and children still living there, the former governor’s own house inside the same compound is desolate. Besides, the vast land mass that is the compound, has the decrepit building of Pa Omokhua Alli, his weather-beaten statue, Ambrose Alli’s house, Ambrose Alli’s mausoleum, a boys’ quarter and weed-covered earth surface.
Mrs. John Alli told Saturday Tribune that the family members at the family compound still remember both the date of birth and date of death of their illustrious son, but that they still cannot explain the coincidence. She said they still feel the absence of Ambrose Alli, a professor of morbid anatomy, who she added, used to help them.
“We feel his absence very well. He used to help us do everything. After his death, my husband, his younger brother, also died. So, nobody is helping us. We are just managing,” she said.
According to her, she cannot recall anything of consequence done in honour or memory of Ambrose Alli or as assistance for the family, either by government or any other body.
Nigerian Tribune
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