• Gov, Emir of Ilorin mourn
Former Governor of Kwara State, Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, is dead. He was 84 years old.
Adebayo, a former Minister of Communications under President Olusegun Obasanjo, died in Abuja, yesterday.
The former governor, born on February 24, 1941, in Igbaja in Ifelodun Local Council of Kwara State, was educated at the All Saints Anglican School, Oke-Onigbin, Provincial Secondary School, Ilorin, and then at Barewa College, Zaria.
He studied at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and at the University of Ghana, Legon, before becoming a lecturer at the University of Ife in 1969.
In 1973, he was appointed Head of the English Department at Kwara State College of Technology.
Meanwhile, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has mourned the passing of Adebayo.
The governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, expressed sadness over the death of the former minister.
“I received with sadness but submission to the will of God the report of the death of former Governor Cornelius Adebayo.
“C.O. Adebayo, as he was fondly called, was an all-time patriot, statesman, and progressive who represented great ideals and fought for good causes throughout his lifetime.”
“With his carriage and roles at various levels of leadership, the former governor stood tall and earned the respect and admiration of all. He left a fine legacy as a democrat who stood up at critical moments of our history,” the statement stated.
Also, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, has commiserated with the state governor over the demise of Adebayo.
Sulu-Gambari, in a condolence message issued by his Press Secretary, Dr Abdulazeez Arowona, described the late Adebayo as an administrator par excellence and elder statesman.
The Emir noted that the deceased contributed his quota to the development of the state within his short tenure in office as the Kwara State Governor before the military took over power in 1983.
He commiserated with the immediate and extended family members, the government and people of Kwara State, his friends and political associates over the incident.
