Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described late Chief Ayo Adebanjo as a great man, a committed nationalist, an effective representative of his people and an unpretentious personality.
Obasanjo said this in a statement of tribute to Adebanjo who died in his Lagos home on Friday aged 96.
The former Nigerian president, in a statement issued on his behalf by Kehinde Akinyemi, his media aide, said,
“It was with deep sense of personal loss that I received the sad news of the passing of my beloved friend and senior brother, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, away in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where I am currently attending the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly.”
The former President stated that the unfortunate news came to him as a shock, lamenting that Adebanjo’s passing was “no doubt, a huge loss not only to me and to Ogun State but also to the country as a whole.
“The unfortunate news came to me as a shock because when last I visited him on February 3, 2025 at his Lekki residence, though he was in such a fragile state, I had no inkling he would leave us so soon. His transition is, no doubt, a huge loss not only to me and to Ogun State, but also to the country as a whole. He was a great man, a committed nationalist and an effective representative of his people.
“Looking back, Chief Adebanjo had a highly successful career with selfless service rendered to his community, State and, indeed, the entire nation.
“As a foundation member of the Action Group Party (A.G.), he will be remembered as a foremost nationalist and patriot who has given his best as an active community leader and an exemplary politician with integrity and one who has demonstrated that politics is an avenue not for mindless enrichment, but for rendering faithful service to humanity.
Obasanjo noted that Adebanjo’s “commitment to enthroning democracy in our dear country, his tenacity in the face of daunting odds and mortal risk to his life is very common knowledge, and these mark him out as a courageous political leader and true patriot. Not surprisingly, he had come to be regarded as one of our most notable elder statesmen, who had an enviable track record of purposefulness, honesty and integrity to bear in promoting the cause of national unity.”
The former President recalled that: “As a democratically-elected President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, we both sometimes disagreed to agree to committedly regenerate and reposition our country to meet the hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people and chart the course to our nation’s glorious future. He was such an unpretentious personality! His thoughts, utterances and deeds were completely devoid of political partisanship. He had friends from all over the country and he led a life filled with remarkable experiences.
“Until his death, he fought with courage and tenacity to see to the restructuring of the Nigerian nation through which good governance based on democratic principles and practice and leading to unity in diversity, justice and equity, political stability, nationalism, popular participation, peace and security and socio-economic progress with strong leadership would be enshrined.
“It is unfortunate that his dream to see this through couldn’t be actualised in his lifetime. Indeed, Chief Adebanjo’s contributions to the strengthening of our fledgling democracy will be missed by the entire nation.
“My family and I commiserate with his immediate and extended family members on this painful loss and pray that God will grant them and the rest of us, his friends and admirers, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. May the soul of our very dear Chief Adebanjo rest in perfect peace, Amen.
“I will undoubtedly miss my amazing and beloved Egbon Ayo, with the hope to continue to hold on to the good and remarkable memories we had together, till we meet to part no more,” Obasanjo stated.
