..says late elder statesman was a consistent, genuine advocate for a better Nigeria
A former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Nwachukwu Anakwenze, has mourned the death of the leader of Afenifere, pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, saying that the country had lost a consistent, committed, principled and genuine advocate for a better Nigeria rebuilt on equity, fairness and Justice for all the composite ethnic groups.
Adebanjo, an elder statesman and a committed Awoist, died peacefully in his sleep last Friday at his Lekki home in Lagos at 96.
Anakwenze, in a statement issued by his Director General, Comrade Eric Oluwole, noted that the elder statesman while alive, was strongly committed to seeing a Nigeria that would be a shining example in the African continent and a pride of the Black Race worldwide.
This was just as the PDP chieftain further noted Chief Adebanjo’s exemplary sense of justice and his warmth towards all Nigerians irrespective of ethnic or social backgrounds, as typified in his adoption, support of, and even campaign for the Labour Party’s candidate in the last Presidential Election, Mr. Peter Obi, where his own kinsman and long-time political associate, the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was also a candidate.
Anakwenze recalled how the departed elder statesman welcomed him warmly into his home earlier when he visited him as a presidential aspirant under the banner of the PDP, describing Adebanjo’s love of, and struggle for a new Nigeria as legendary.
According to him, he demonstrated this fiercely as a chieftain of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the arrow head of which was Afenifere, in the tortuous and bloody pro-democracy struggles that midwived the prevailing democratic dispensation.
“While thanking the Almighty Father for granting our illustrious Pa Ayo Adebanjo the privilege of passing away quietly, and peacefully in his sleep at the ripe age of 96 years, we note with regret that Nigeria our dear country has lost a golden and honestly dedicated voice in the advocacy for a better Nigeria that will stand on the platform of equity, fairness and Justice, and thereby be a blessing for all Nigerians irrespective of ethnic or social backgrounds.
“Pa Adebanjo’s love of, and struggle for a new Nigeria was legendary as he demonstrated fiercely as a chieftain of NADECO, the arrowhead of which was Afenifere, in the tortuous and bloody pro-democracy struggles that midwived the prevailing democratic dispensation.
“We also recall that Pa Adebanjo was until his passage, a brilliant, loyal and dedicated disciple of the departed sage, the legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo whose Premiership of the defunct Western Region transformed the Region to an economic miracle that transformed the Region and attracted other Regions to follow suit, and whose struggles as the Leader of Opposition at the national level engendered national political development,” Anakwenze said.
Anakwenze commiserated with the Afenifere and the family of Chief Adebanjo over his passage and prayed that “Pa Adebanjo be accompanied by helpers as he shed his physical body to begin his natural and normal journey into the Beyond in continuation of his existence and journeying towards Paradise, the luminous Kingdom of the Almighty Father wherein the blessed dwell and serve joyfully our Creator.”
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