Doctor of medicine Anthony Bassey Attah, 73, older brother of Governor Victor Attah, passed away in London in mid-December.

In a parting eulogy, President Olusegun Obasanjo described Dr. Bassey Attah as a worthy son of Nigeria, whose death was not only a loss to Akwa Ibom but to the entire country. President Obasanjo’s message spoke of Dr. Attah’s numerous contributions to the development of Akwa Ibom, and urged other Nigerians in diaspora to always live in harmony with their host communities.

Paul Inyang, a boyhood patient of Dr. Attah, said that, "Dr. Attah was a very gentle, very professional person. He was one of the earliest Western-trained doctors in Nigeria. He came back to Nigeria in the early ’60’s and practised there. Dr. Attah was a first class humanitarian. He had a practice for indigent people, and he was able to treat poor people as he would treat anybody."

Inyang remembers Dr. Attah as a role model to poor Nigerian kids. "A lot of the kids who are now doctors, he paved the way."

The late Dr. Anthony Bassey Attah was laid to rest in the Attah family cemetery in Ikot Akpan Ndua, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.