Former governor of Kwara State and veteran Nigerian politician, Cornelius Adebayo, has died at the age of 84.
Family sources confirmed that he passed away early Wednesday morning in Abuja.
Born on February 24, 1941, in Igbaja, Kwara State, Adebayo’s political career spanned decades. He served as Kwara’s governor in 1983 and was appointed minister of communications between 2003 and 2006. Earlier, he was elected to the Senate in 1979 under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
A prominent voice in Nigeria’s pro-democracy movement, Adebayo was an active member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which opposed the military regime and fought to restore the June 12, 1993, presidential mandate of MKO Abiola. In a show of principle, he declined a ministerial offer from the Sani Abacha regime in 1993.
His activism made him a target.
Following a bomb blast in Ilorin on May 31, 1995, Adebayo and several NADECO members were arrested and interrogated by the police. As threats to his safety intensified, he fled to Canada in 1996 for a brief exile.
Before his foray into top political roles, Adebayo served as Kwara State’s education commissioner from 1975 to 1978, where he was widely credited with impactful reforms in the sector.
He is remembered as a principled leader and advocate for democracy during one of Nigeria’s most turbulent political periods.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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