Cleric eulogises SUNU Group founder’s achievement
Rev. Fr John Okoria, the Chaplain of Lagos University Teaching Hospital/College of Medicine (LUTH/CMUL), has eulogised the achievements of the Founder of SUNU Group, Pathe Dione.
He spoke at the memorial mass of Dione, which held in Lagos on Monday at the St Luke’s Chaplaincy, LUTH/CMUL, three years after his death.
Okoria said Pathe Dione was a man who turned the ordinary into the extraordinary in 17 African countries.
Recognising his remarkable drive, he said:“As we struggle to develop the African continent, we have to be more Afrocentric.
“When a man has such a vision to build a company, it’s not a family business or one Senegalese business, but an African business.
“The company is in 17 African countries and has a vision for the company that is development for Africa”.
Okoria said that the founder was Afrocentric not just by having businesses in Africa but by developing people in Africa.
Speaking, Elie Ogounigni, Head, Cluster Non-CIMA Zone (English-speaking), said that the founder was a great man who created an organisation that has stayed for long.
Ogounigni said that the way he structured the organisation was not on family basis but created a business for others and Africans.
According to him, the founder is not someone that can be forgotten so easily and the annual gathering makes the group to remember him, and emulate his virtues.
Also, Mr Samuel Ogbodu, Managing Director, SUNU Assurances, said that the founder was a man who felt he needed to develop Africa.
Ogbodu said that was why he established in 17 African countries, creating employment, making families smile and putting food on the tables of families across Africa.
He said that so many people have been able to meet their earthly demands through the efforts of the founder.
He said that a lot of people had also benefitted from the group’s vision and mission.
On his own part, Dr Patrick Korie, Managing Director, SUNU Health, said that: The little business he started is in 17 African countries.
“It has become big in the area of insurance, health, finance and even a bank”.
He reiterated that the founder was an example of turning the ordinary into extraordinary, being selfless.
“He didn’t do it for himself but had the vision of the company to be of African origin, servicing Africans in the best way possible.”
