The family of the slain military governor of the defunct Western Region, Lt. Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, has announced that it would set up a foundation to take care and support children of fallen heroes.
A daughter of the late military governor, Mrs Monica Olajuyigbe (Nee Fajuyi), said at the kick off of the golden celebration of the death of Lt. Col. Fajuyi, at the Fajuyi Park, in Ado Ekiti, that the family had concluded plan to immortalise their father by instituting an Education Trust Fund.
Mrs Olajuyigbe said the body would be known as Adekunle Fajuyi Education Trust (AFET) and added that it would be officially launched on July 27, in Lagos.
She said the aim and objective of AFET was to help in the educational training and sustenance of the children of the fallen and injured heroes as well as the less-privileged members of the society.
She appealed to government at all levels to restore the teaching of history as a subject in secondary schools to motivate the mentality of school pupils to take a cue from the likes of her father, whom she described as “a gallant and brave soldier.”
Speaking at the brief ceremony, the state governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, described the late Fajuyi as “a hero who demonstrated uncommon loyalty, as a brave soldier, to his duty, his boss and the unity of the nation during the July 29, 1966 military coup in Nigeria.”
Fayose who said that the late Fajuyi had the opportunity of choosing to live and allow his guest, General Aguiyi-Ironsi to die in the coup, stressed that his demonstration of patriotism and nationalism as a true son of Ekiti pushed him to surrender his life to keep the country as a united entity.
The governor, who was represented at the programme by his deputy, Dr Kolapo Olusola, said it was high time history was restored as a subject taught in secondary schools in order to inspire the growing youths on the need to be patriotic as demonstrated by heroes like late Fajuyi.
The deputy governor and some other top government functionaries including the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Modupe Alade, laid wreaths at the cenotaph of the late Fajuyi.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi was killed in a counter-coup on July 29, 1966 along with his boss, the then Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi.
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