‘He was pro-people,’ Afenifere Leader mourns Akeredolu

Leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organization, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, has expressed shock over the demise of Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu.

A statement by a spokesperson of the organization, Comrade Jare Ajayi, quoted the elder stateman as describing the late governor as a quintessential gentleman, a thorough professional, a patriot and a very courageous individual.

“Since his youthful days, ever before he became governor, Akeredolu had been an activist who was always fighting on the side of the people.

Like another illustrious son of this state, Ondo, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Akeredolu was known to be pro-people in the way he practiced law and in other areas of his public engagements. Even after he became the first citizen, he never relented in his siding with the people as reflected in his various actions and utterances.”

Pa Fasoranti recalled the roles played by the late governor especially on security.

“It is on record that he was in the forefront of those agitating for State police to enable states and communities to be in charge of their own security apparatus. The part he played in the establishment of the Security Network in the South West known as Amotekun cannot be underestimated.”

It can also be remembered that Akeredolu, who was conferred with the national honour, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022, took remarkable steps to checkmate Fulani herders who were terrorizing farmers in Ondo State.

Many states took cues from the actions of his administration in this respect.

The statement further declared the late governor as a humanist. “He has a lot of empathy and very humane in his relationship with people. Very many, not a few, people would be grieved by his death”.

Afenifere leader commiserated with the family of the deceased, Ondo State people and Nigeria as a whole on “the loss of one of the illustrious of this land.”

The statement concluded that although Akeredolu was of Yoruba extraction, he was certainly a national figure as demonstrated by his presidency of the Nigerian Bar Association, among others.