Amosun, Ambode mourn as ex-minister, Kuforiji, dies at 80

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8 years ago

BARELY two months after she clocked 80, a former Minister of Commerce, Bola Kuforiji, died on Saturday.

She was the first female president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, in a statement, said “yes we will miss her, but we still have to thank God for the impactful and successful life she lived.”

He added that the late Mrs Kuforiji was not only a successful technocrat, adding that “she also impacted and motivated generations of Nigerians, especially women, through her industry and success as a technocrat and an administrator.”

While commiserating with the Kuforiji family, the people of Ogun State and, indeed, all Nigerians over the loss, Amosun said “for us in Ogun State, she was an icon. She was one of those international icons that made us proud.”

He added that “her enviable track record includes being the first woman in sub-Saharan Africa to serve as chairman of a leading financial institution, UBA; the first chairman of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority and Vice Chairman, National Conference on Nigerian Foreign Policy, among others.

“We will particularly miss her words of wisdom at this critical stage in the development of our dear state,” Amosun said.

Also reacting, Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Habib Aruna, described the deceased as a distinguished businesswoman, banker, economist and accountant, who cut her teeth in the corporate world.

The governor recalled the former minister’s decades of distinguished career in the private and public sectors of national life, saying she was a role model to the future generation.

“Dr Kuforiji was a woman of many firsts, she wrote her name in gold in the banking industry and was a pace-setter and leader in banking, manufacturing and entrepreneurship, not only in Nigeria, but also in sub-Saharan Africa,” the statement read.

According to Governor Ambode, the legacies of the deceased would continue to be sources of inspiration to the younger generation.