Ohaneze ndi Igbo worldwide mourns Governor Rotimi Akeredolu & says he was an exceptional Igbo in-law

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has expressed sadness over the demise of the former governor of Osun State, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu.

Akeredolu, who was also the chairman of the South West Governors Forum, passed away in a German hospital on December 27 after a reported battle with cancer.

Ohanaeze, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, said that it received the news of the death of the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association as a rude shock.

They described him as a robust visionary, a purveyor of morals, and a jinxbreaker.

The statement also quoted the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, as hailing “the audacious roles that he played in the creation of the Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise called the Amotekun: the zest and steadfastness with which, as the Chairman of the South West Governors Forum, he coordinated the zoning of the Presidency to the southern part of Nigeria.”

“Chief Iwuanyanwu cited with freshness how Akeredolu chaired the Meeting of the Southern Governors’ Forum at Enugu, which emphatically re-echoed the earlier Asaba Declaration for the Southern Presidency. Akeredolu demonstrated extraordinary acumen in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

“The Igbo Leader qualified Rotimi Akeredolu as a courageous man who spoke truth to power, a soldier of democracy, and the popular sentiment of South West politics.

“Throughout his career, Akeredolu displayed an amazing social skill, dispositional humility, character comeliness, legal wizardry, irresistible charisma, intellectual prowess, and a disarming political acumen.

“On behalf of all the sons and daughters of Igbo land, Ahaejiagamba urges our amiable daughter, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the immediate family to accept with serenity and fortitude the inevitable reality for all mortals and that they should take solace in the enviable track records of our son while he navigated his paths like a colossus.

“The Igbo Leader further requests all the Igbo structures in the south-west of Nigeria to show adequate solidarity to the good people of Ondo State as we bid a befitting farewell to our son-in-law.”