Activist, public commentator, Yima Sen, dies

By Tasie Theodore

An activist and public commentator, Dr. Yima Sen has died.

The don, who hails from Benue State in Nigeria’s Middle Belt area died on Tuesday at a hospital in Abuja.

A radical and leftist, Yima Sen was until his death a senior academic at Baze University, Abuja where he taught Mass Communications.

Yima Sen had studied Mass Communications at the University of Lagos, University of California in Los Angeles, United States of America and the University of Amsterdam in Netherlands.

During the Second Republic, he served as Communications Assistant to Dr. Chuba Okadigbo who was then Special Adviser on Political Affairs to President Shehu Shagari.

A most effusive organiser, he was involved with groups like Women In Nigeria, (WIN), the Campaign for Democracy, (CD) and the Democratic Alternative.

More recently, he had worked as an aide to Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and then the Northern Elders Forum, (NEF) where he was Director-General.

He is also known to have been an avid student of the illustrious Middle Belt politician, Dr. Joseph Tarka.

No plans for his burial have presently been released.

Meanwhile, tributes have begun to pour in in recognition of the patriotic and dogged commitment that Sen demonstrated while he lived. In his own attestation, the activist Fabian Okoye wrote:

‘DR. YIMA SEN: EXIT OF AN INTELLECTUAL POWERHOUSE
I just received the shocking news of the passing on to eternal glory of a dear comrade, friend, colleague and dependable ally in the struggle for a better Nigeria; the irrepressible intellectual powerhouse, Dr. Yima Sen.
The outstanding theoretician, polemicist, development strategist, communications expert and political strategist played a prominent role in the struggle against military authoritarianism. He was a former Secretary General of Nigeria’s foremost pro-democracy movement, Campaign for Democracy (CD). A notable figure in the agitation for minority rights, he was the Secretary General of Middle Belt Forum.
Dr. Yima Sen served as Information Adviser at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and later joined the Presidency as a Senior Aide.
He was very articulate, eloquent and deeply engaging. Nigeria has lost one of her finest thinkers. My sincere condolences to his wife, my dear comrade Lona Sen. May the good Lord have mercy on Yima’s soul and grant him eternal rest.’

Dr. Yima Sen