NIGERIA’S diaspora community in the UK has suffered another devastating loss after Menegian Saro-Wiwa the son of the Niger Delta environmental activist Ken became the latest victim to succumb to the dreaded coronavirus.
Menegian Saro-Wiwa, 50, passed away on Monday after being hospitalised in London following Covid-19 complications. Noo Saro-Wiwa, his sister, announced Menegian passing on her Facebook wall, pointing out that her 1970-born brother had underlying health conditions before contracting the lethal virus.
She added that her late brother, who she described as a kind and beautiful soul, always wanting the best for his family, is survived by a son Louis. According to Noo, Menegian was always praying for their future success while being eternally optimistic about his own and always loved his music.
Menegian said: “We said goodbye to my brother, Gian, on Monday. He had Covid-19 combined with underlying health conditions.
“Gian was the smartest and most talented out of all of us, a champion sprinter at school, a poet, an artist, budding engineer, a self-taught guitarist, and pianist. However, mental health issues limited his life from age 16 onwards.”
Nigerians in the UK have been particularly hard hit by this global pandemic, with many of its community activists and health workers afflicted. With the sixth highest number of afflictions worldwide, the UK has 103,093 cases of coronavirus, of which 13,729 of them have sadly died.
With one third of all cases in the UK being ethnic minority, the Nigerian community has borne the brunt of the virus, given its size. This may be to do with the fact that Nigeria has a very large number of doctors and nurses working for the National Health Service.
