New Telegraph

2021: Eminent Nigerians who passed on in outgoing year

There is no doubt the outgoing 2021 has proved to be a tough year as it claimed the lives of many prominent Nigerians, including politicians. Some of the deaths, mostly shocking, are said to be over COVID-19 related complications, while others are as a result of undisclosed ailments. WALE ELEGBEDE looks at some prominent Nigerians who passed on in 2021

 

Ahmed Gulak

 

May 30, 2021, was a black Sunday across the country when the news of the death of Ahmed Gulak, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was announced. Gulak, 56, was killed by gunmen in Imo State while returning to Abuja from Owerri.

 

The former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was once the Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, former national coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) and former governorship aspirant on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State.

 

Ibrahim Mantu

 

Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, died at the age of 74 on August 17 due to COVID-19 complications in a private hospital in Abuja after nine days in isolation. Mantu was elected Deputy Senate President in 2003 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a position he held till 2007.

 

The lawmaker who represented Plateau Central in the Senate hailed from Gindiri District in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau.

 

Abdullahi Ibrahim

 

On January 24, ten days after he marked his 84th birthday, Abdullahi Ibrahim, a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, passed on to the great beyond.

 

He was the first Senior Advocate of Nigeria from the northern part of the country and also served as Minister of Education while alive.

 

Yinka Odumakin

 

The former National Publicity Sec-retary of Afenifere, a Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, died on April 3 at the age of 55. He was a human rights activist and politician, played a key role in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought the government of late Sani Abacha after the annulment of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election.

 

He was among the spokespersons of the Southern and Middle Belt Leader’s Forum (SMBLF). He was the spokesman of Muhammadu Buhari when he contested the 2011 presidential election under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

 

Obadiah Mailafia

 

On September 19, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) passed on. He was a Nigerian development economist, international polymath, central banker, statesman and the 2019 Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

 

He was a former official of the African Development Bank Group and also the former Chief of Staff of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the 79-nation multilateral development institution based in Brussels, Belgium.

 

Mailafia was a fearless critic of Buhari administration and a believer in the Nigerian project. He was persuaded to enter politics after the famous historic “handshake” by the coalition of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Afenifere of Yoruba land, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and PANDEF of Niger Delta.

 

Ndubuisi Kanu

 

Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd), a former Nigerian military officer and state governor died on January 13. He was among Biafran soldiers that fought the Nigerian Civil War and in July 1975 he was appointed to Murtala Muhammed’s Supreme Military Council.

 

After Olusegun Obasanjo came to power as the military head of state, Kanu was appointed military governor of Imo State and then Lagos State.

 

He was later appointed as the Chief of Naval Staff and later served with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

 

In retirement, he was a prodemocracy campaigner and called for the decentralisation of power and in  creased federalism.

 

Aminu Isah Kontagora

 

On January 10, Colonel Aminu Isa Kontagora, a former military governor of Benue State during the military regime of General Sani Abacha died at the age of 65.

 

He later served as the military governor of Kano State from September 1998 to May 1999 during the transitional regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, handing over power to the elected executive governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on 29 May 1999.

 

Ibrahim Attahiru

Former Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Attahiru died four months after his appointment as the head of the Nigerian army. He died on May 21 when NAF Beechcraft B300 King Air 350i crashed near Kaduna International Airport.

 

On the evening of May 21, Attahiru was travelling on a Nigerian Air Force Beechcraft King Air 350 on an official visit to Kaduna, where he was to attend the Passing out Parade of 80RRI in Depot Nigerian Army on May 22.

 

During the journey the plane crashed, killing Attahiru and all ten other people on board.

 

Jubril Martins-Kuye

 

The former Minister of Commerce and Industry died on January 17 at the age of 79. He was originally a member of the Social Democratic Party and served as a senator. He joined the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) towards the end of the Sani Abacha regime.

 

After unsuccessfully standing as the People’s Democratic Party candidate for governor of Ogun State in 1999 he was appointed minister of state for finance by President Olusegun Obasanjo, a position he held until 2003. During his tenure, the Savannah Bank was closed down in February 2002, a controversial move that he claimed was due to non-compliance with regulations rather than financial distress.

 

 Tony Momoh

 

The former journalist and Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, died on February 1. He started his journalism career as a sub-editor at the Daily Times in October 1962, rising steadily through the ranks to become Editor and deputy general manager of the newspaper.

 

Momoh was a former chairman of the board of directors of Nigerian Airways from 1991 to 1993.

 

He was appointed a Member of the Edo State Economic Advisory Committee in 1991, and a member of the Nigerian Press Council in December 1992. [7] As of 1996 Momoh was one of the directors of the Newswatch magazine, said to have a circulation of 150,000 copies in Africa,

 

Europe and North America. As a politician, Momoh was chairman of the Media and Publicity of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) Campaign Organisation in the 2003 and 2007 elections.

 

He was also Chairman of the Political Committee of the Muhammadu Buhari Organisation. In January 2011, Momoh was appointed Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the lead-up to the April 2011 national elections, with Buba Galadima appointed the National Secretary.

 

Lateef Jakande

 

Jakande, a journalist who served as governor of Lagos State from 1979 and 1983, and later as Minister of Works under the Sani Abacha military regime died on February 11 at 91. As a governor, his administration was effective and open and implemented the cardinal policies of his party.

 

He introduced housing and educational programs targeting the poor, building new neighbourhood primary and secondary schools and providing free primary and secondary education. In 1949, Jakande began a career in journalism career first with the Daily Service and then in 1953 joined the Nigerian Tribune.

 

In 1956 he was appointed editorin- chief of the Tribune by the owner Chief Obafemi Awolowo. After leaving the Tribune in 1975, Jakande established John West Publications and began to publish The Lagos News. He served as the first President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN).

 

Junaid Mohammed

 

On February 18, Second Republic senator and fierce critic of President Buhari died at the age of 74. Junaid Mohammed, a medical doctor turned politician, was a man of many parts and one who wore many hats.

 

But despite being a multi-faceted figure, like every mortal, the former lawmaker breathed his last at an isolation centre in Kano where he was being treated for an undisclosed ailment. For many of his colleagues, navigating the murky waters of Nigerian politics is a path they would rather avoid at any cost, considering the attendant risks.

 

But for Mohammed, it was a fight to the finish, given his quest to champion a better Nigeria. His reason was not different from the popular view among many Nigerians that the country is not working as it should be and needs to be properly structured for any meaningful development to take place.

 

Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe

 

Ibidapo-Obe was a Nigerian professor of Systems Engineering, educational administrator and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. He died on January 3, from COVID-19 complications.

 

He served as a Visiting Research Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA (1980-1981). In 2007, Ibidapo-Obe was a visiting Research Professor at Texas Southern University in Houston, USA. He was a fellow of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada (1977–1979) and a fellowship of the Academy of Science and Engineering.

 

Chike Akunyili

Dr Chike Akunyili, the husband of the late Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dora Akunyili, died on September 28.

 

He was murdered by gunmen in Anambra State while returning to Enugu from an event that honoured his late wife.

 

Ladi Rotimi-Williams

 

Chief Oladipupo Rotimi-Williams, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) died on October 3. He studied Law at the University College, London (1968- 1971) and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1972.

 

He worked in the Chambers of his Father, Chief Rotimi Williams’ Chambers, until he set up his own Firm, Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams’ Chambers (CLRWC), where he was the Principal/ Founding Partner.

Chief Ladi Williams took Silk in 1995, and he and his Father were the first Father and Children to become Senior Advocates of Nigeria. He was appointed as a member of the Constitutional Drafting Committee in 1988. He was also appointed as a Director of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), and he served the Corporation during his tenure.

 

His service to other industries saw him on the Board of Corporations such as, UPS/IMNL and Mutual Benefits Assurance.

 

Hussaini Akwanga

 

On December 17, the former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Hussaini Zanwa Akwanga, died at the age of 77. The elder statesman, who was a professional teacher, was made a minister by President Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2003 but was later sacked by the President during a cabinet reshuffle.

 

In 2017, he was kidnapped on his farm in Kurmin Tagwaye village, near Akwanga, but was released two days later after paying a huge ransom to his abductors.

 

Joe Aikhomu

 

The former Chief of Naval Administration, Rear Admiral Joe Aikhomu (rtd) died on February 25 at the age of 65.

 

A younger brother to former military Vice President, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu (rtd), was until his death, chairman of Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS), a company his late brother founded with Captain Hosa Okunbo.  Aikhomu was a member of the investigative panel on arms procurement between 2007 and 2015 which was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari during his first tenure.

 

He was an expert on maritime operations and logistics in the Gulf of Guinea.

 

Hosa Okunbo

 

The Nigerian business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and trained commercial pilot, Captain Idahosa Hosa Okunbo, died on August 8.

 

He served as either chairman or director on numerous company boards in Nigeria, spanning multiple business sectors such as the agro-allied, petroleum, telecommunications, power, real estate, and banking industries.

 

In 1983, at the age of 25, Okunbo was made a captain. He practised his trade as a flight captain with Intercontinental Airlines for about two years, before moving over to Okada Airlines where he served with honours for another three years.

 

In 1988, at the age of 30, he retired from commercial piloting having recorded over a whopping 7,000 hours of flight time and ventured into private business.

 

Sylvester Ngwuta

 

On March 7, Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, a justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, died at the age of 70.

 

He served on the Supreme Court from 2011 until his death in 2021. Justice Ngwuta presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed Olusegun Mimiko as the governor-elect of Ondo State in the May 2013 governorship election.

 

He also presided over the ruling of the Supreme Court that affirmed Kayode Fayemi as the governor-elect of Ekiti State in the June 2013 governorship election and was supported by Justices Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and Suleiman Galadima.

 

He was among the judges that were arrested by the Department of State Security Services (DSS) on October 8, 2016, on allegations of bribery and corruption. However, the Court of Code Tribunal (CCT) ruled in May 2018 that only the National Judicial Council could determine whether or not Ngwata would face trial.

 

In September 2019, Ngwuta resumed his duties as a Supreme Court Justice after a three-year suspension

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