•Obi, Utomi too
Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The leader of Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, yesterday, led a delegation of the group to the Ibadan residence of former Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, who passed on recently.
Also, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, and Professor Pat Utomi,visited the home of the deceased to commiserate with the family.
Adebanjo, together with other members of the group were in Ibadan to condole with Akeredolu’s wife, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, over the demise of her husband.
The elder statesman while speaking with journalists, said the visit by Afenifere was not because Akeredolu was a governor of Ondo State but what he stood for in Nigeria’spolitics and the type of progressive politics he played while alive.
“Akeredolu was a great patriot, a great nationalist and someone who believed in what he says, very courageous and consistent particularly during the invasion of the Southwest states by Fulani herdsmen.
“Akeredolu stood firm, he called a spade a spade, he said Fulani men must get out of the forest they were; he was a great son of Oduduwa Oduduwa. He stood firm in spite of dominance of ex president Buhari.
“That is why I have to lead this delegation here. I would have sent someone but I said no, not for Rotimi, he travelled a courageous path, and he was a great son of Oduduwa and a star of the progressive government,” he said.
On his part, Obi, during a separate visit, described Akeredolu, as a patriotic Nigerian, dogged fighter and principled leader.
Akeredolu, according to Obi, was a dogged fighter and forthright person who stood on the side of the masses at all times.
He prayed to God to grant the family, the Ondo State people and the entire country the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss just as he prayed eternal rest for the departed governor.
“Today, together with my very dear elder brother, Prof. Pat Utomi, I arrived Ibadan, Oyo State, to commiserate with the bereaved wife of late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire Akeredolu family, as we all mourn his death.
“While Akeredolu was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and subsequently as a governor, he stayed consistent on how to build a better Nigeria where there would be respect for the rule of law, security of lives and properties of Nigerian citizens.
“He believed in a restructured and productive Nigeria. May God who it pleased to call him home at this time grant him eternal rest and grant his dear wife, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the entire Akeredolu family and all of us who mourn him, the fortitude to bear his irreplaceable loss,” Obi stated.
Utomi, who was a classmate of the late governor at Loyola College Ibadan in the 60s, recalled that the character traits displayed by Akeredolu in the governance of Ondo State had been part of him right from secondary school.
He said Akeredolu was not one who would keep quiet in the face of oppression and that he never compromised on justice and equity.
He condoled with the people of Ondo State on the passing of Akeredolu describing it as a colossal loss to both the state and the country.
Immediate younger brother of the deceased, Prof Wole Akeredolu, while responding on behalf of the family, thanked Obi and Utomi for the visit and their support for the family.
