A prominent elder statesman and leader of Yoruba socio-cultural group Afenifere, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, is dead, THE WITNESS reports.
The newspaper learnt he died in the early hours of Thursday at 94.
He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Old Western Nigeria Housing Corporation in the old western region.
He was National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in 1977, elected into the Senate in 1979, and became a member of the House of Representatives in 1983.
He also served with the National Constitutional Conference Commission in 1994, as a member.
The Osun State government in a condolence message signed by its commissioner for information, Funke Egbemode, said his passage was confirmed by his first son, Obafemi Fasanmi, on behalf of the family.
“He made enviable and remarkable contributions to his profession, to the socio-political development of Yorubaland, and to the nation at large.
“Baba Fasanmi was a leader who demonstrated his love for our great country in many laudable ways; but more heart-warming was how he showed optimal concern for the welfare of the poor and underprivileged, and how he held leaders accountable on their promises of good governance.
‘We also recognise how much Osogbo, and Osun State as a whole meant to Pa. Fasanmi, who was transferred to Osogbo as a Pharmacist in 1951, and he chose to live here till he took his last breath.
“His Alekuwodo residence became a make-shift Secretariat for a number of causes and movements of national relevance. The State Government of Osun appreciates all he accomplished in his lifetime, especially as a pivotal force in the socio-cultural and political bolstering of the Yoruba,” Mrs Egbemode said.