Independence activist and a former member of the PPP Cabinet from 1961 to 1964, Cedric Vernon Nunes died in Birmingham, UK on January 30, 2008 after a period of illness.
Best known as CV Nunes, he was appointed Minister of Education in 1961 and along with then Premier, Dr Cheddi Jagan, was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Guyana.
Under his stewardship technical education expanded in Guyana and he was also credited with the introduction of the secondary departments in primary schools. The CV Nunes Primary School on the Essequibo Coast, where he was once a head teacher, was renamed in his honour.
As a political activist, Nunes was the chairman of the PPP for many years and owing to his activism, he and several of his colleagues were detained at Sibley Hall at the Mazaruni Prisons for a lengthy period.
In a brief comment, PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar said that CV Nunes made a big contribution to the party serving as a top leader. He said that he worked very hard in the anti-colonial struggle and shared a dream with the likes of Dr Cheddi Jagan, Mrs Janet Jagan and a host of others for an independent and prosperous Guyana.
In preparation for the pre-and-post-independence era, he said that Nunes advocated the need for an education system that would transform the society not only economically but also liberate the minds of the people who had been subjected to colonial domination for centuries. “His contributions in those areas of struggle were invaluable,” he said.
