Afenifere, PANDEF, SMBLF mourn ex-Kwara gov, Adebayo

The pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, has expressed grief over the death of Second Republic governor of Kwara State and a former Minister of Communications, Senator Cornelius Adebayo.

The group, in a statement, described Adebayo as a committed Awoist and great son of Nigeria who contributed to the development of the nation.

Afenifere, in the statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Sola Ebiseni, said: “The passage of Chief Cornelius Adebayo, former governor of the old Kwara State, is a great loss of a most distinguished son of Nigeria who committed his entire life to the service of humanity in several spheres of life.

“To us in the Afenifere, he was a great compatriot in the Obafemi Awolowo political family in the struggle for a Nigeria where every group and nationality will have a true sense of belonging to the federation with requisite autonomy for the agreed federating states in the pursuit of their legitimate and peculiar regional interests.

“Within his short tenure as governor of old Kwara State, C.O., as he was fondly called, distinguished himself in the faithful implementation of the four cardinal programmes of the Unity Party of Nigeria, particularly in the area of education where he laid the foundation for the mass education of the citizenry.

“Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo was a multidisciplinary icon as a university lecturer, a statesman,  politician as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, governor of the old Kwara State and  Minister of Communications.

“A great Awoist who never wavered in his commitment to the restructuring of Nigeria for true federalism which he advocated through membership of great national platforms like the Afenifere, NADECO, Middle Belt Forum and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, all of which he served at their apex leadership.

“He was indeed the chairman of the Political Committee of Afenifere. C.O. will be remembered for his principled rejection of a ministerial appointment from Sani Abacha in deference to his unalloyed commitment to the restoration of the June 12, 1993 mandate of M.K.O. Abiola as a leader within the NADECO.”

Also, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) mourned the former Kwara State governor, describing him as a true statesman.

The SMBLF, in a statement by the leaders of the group, Oba Oladipo Olaitan for Afenifere, Dr. Bitrus Pogu for Middle Belt Forum, Senator John Azuta-Mbata for Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Godknows Igali for the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF), described the late Second Republic governor as one of the leaders who stood firmly in the defence of democracy following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

SMBLF’s statement reads: “The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum received with deep sense of loss the death of Chief Cornelius Adebayo who was one of the founders and a great pillar of the Organisation.

“A Senator, former Governor of old Kwara State and a former Minister of Communications,  Chief Adebayo was also leader of Afenifere, NADECO, the Middle Belt Forum and the umbrella Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.

“In these and other theatres of life, C.O., as he was fondly called, served with the highest level of commitment to justice, equity and a true federal Nigerian state for the unity, development and progress of her diverse peoples and nationalities.

“In particular, he will be remembered for his principled leadership of the people of Kogi and Kwara and uncompromising commitment to the unity of the people of the North Central and the Middle Belt as a formidable bloc to drive their socio-political interests in Nigeria.

“The SMBLF commiserates and extends our condolences to members of his immediate family, the people of Kwara and Kogi states, the Middle Belt, for the loss of this great son of Nigeria.”

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