Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa has described the lifetime of his former boss, Late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, as that of sacrifice and heroism.
Aiyedatiwa stated this on Wednesday at the lying-in-state and commendation service for the late governor at the Akure township stadium.
The Governor said that Akeredolu risked his life to ensure the people lived.
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“I remember how this great man lying still here before us now took an uninsured risk in service of a greater goal for his people. This was in the heat of the avoidable farmers/herders kidnapping and other security challenges in our country. I am sure you remember his indomitable interventions when it was tough to speak loud.
“He, without fear, took an unusual sacrifice that many considered a suicide mission. He raised his voice to speak truth to power. He condemned inequality, complacency, divisiveness and double standards.
“He asked for the supremacy of rule of law. He asked for fairness, love and true nationalism. He faced the troubling issues of the times with the candour of a statesman. He not only condemned indolence of thought, he proffered solutions that guaranteed peace. He not only talked, he walked his talk. He advocated for a new thinking, a new action and a new direction,” Mr. Aiyedatiwa said.
At the special court session, the state’s Chief Judge, Olusegun Odusola, took time to enumerate the contributions of the late Mr. Akeredolu to the state judiciary, dscribing the late former governor as a man of courage.
Odusola said, “Akeredolu was a courageous fighter, who faced the serious security challenges in the state with such ingenious courage that his approach has become a national model.
“He was amazingly down to earth and this great asset is also his major weakness in a society where sycophancy is the order of the day. Whatever he promised to do, he would fight to accomplish. He had a desire to build an ultra-modern facility for the high court and had started the journey but could not to do so partly because of his ill-health but largely because the individual who stood as the eye of the executives in the administration of the judiciary could not interpret that dream,” he said.
Mr. Akeredolu, aged 67, died of prostrate cancer in a German hospital on 27 December 2023. His body was flown to Nigeria and subsequently deposited in a morgue on 5 January.
Present at the event were representative of President Tinubu, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Olawale Edun, state governors, political and professional allies, family members as well as the deceased’s former political.
In honour of the departed governor, the state government declared Thursday and Friday, 22nd and 23rd February, as public holidays.
This is to allow the people to participate in the burial activities of the former governor, which began last week and will end on Sunday with a Thanksgiving Service at St. Andrew’s Church, Owo, his hometown in Ondo state.
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