The Kwara state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has commiserated with the Omu Aran community and the media fraternity on the death of a former acting managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Chief Jide Adebayo, describing his demise as “a huge loss.”
The former NAN chief, who was also the Eesa of Omu Aran (prime minister) and former Commissioner for Information in the state, died on Thursday at the age of 66.
In a statement Friday, the governor said the death of the veteran journalist was a great loss to the media industry and the people of Omu Aran whom he served diligently as a consummate community leader.
The statement read in part, “I join the media community, the Omu Aran Development Association (ODA), His Royal Highness Olomu of Omu Aran Oba Abdulraheem Oladele Adeoti, and the immediate family to mourn this great human being. He will be sorely missed. Chief Jide Adebayo, who was until his death the Prime Minister of Omu Aran, lived for his people and he represented a great example of hard work, excellence, consistency, and community service.
“I pray to the Almighty God to repose the soul of the late Eesa and comfort all those that mourn him.”
In a related development, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara state council and National League of Veteran Journalists (NALEJ) in the state, have commiserated with the family of the late Chief Adebayo.
A statement signed by the chairman and secretary of the union, Abdullateef ‘Lanre Ahmed and Omotayo Ayanda, stated that “the executive and journalists in the state stated that the council received the death of Chief Adebayo, a one-time state secretary of the union with rude shock and sadness.”
“The demise of Chief Adebayo was utterly shocking but we cannot question the work of Almighty God. We, however, take solace in the fact that the deceased lived a fruitful life and bequeathed a worthy legacy to the younger generation,” the statement read in part.
Also, the League of Veteran Journalists (NALVEJ) in the state, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Olesin, described Adebayo’s death as “painful.”
It commiserated with the members of his family and the Omu-Aran community over the loss and prayed to God to forgive him eternal rest.
