NAN-H-74
Adeleke
By Victor Adeoti
Osogbo, April 25, 2017 (NAN) Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun, has described the death of Sen. Isiaka Adeleke as a rude shock.
A statement issued on Monday in Osogbo by Mr Adelani Baderiwa, a media aide to Akande, quoted the former governor as describing Adeleke as a young and vibrant statesman whose death would remain shocking and dismaying to him and some other elders for a long time.
The former Interim National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) said Adeleke died at the prime of his political career.
He also said: “The cruel hands of death that kill young people like Adeleke so suddenly is creating perpetual restless tremor for our generation and above.
His death, at this age, is deeply painful.
“I pray for the repose of the soul of the deceased and wish that God will give his family and political associates the fortitude to bear the loss.’’
Sen. Babajide Omoworare, representing Osun East Senatorial District at the Senate , said Adeleke’s death was disheartening at the time when his service and experience were needed most.
Omoworare, in a statement by his media aide, Tunde Dairo, said Adeleke was a quintessential politician with a good heart whose departure would leave a huge vacuum that would be difficult to fill.
“I am still in shock and yet to come to terms with the reality that a man bubbling with life and discharging his duties as a senator efficiently is dead.
“In the midst of our collective grief, we are, however, consoled by the quality of life he lived and it would take a long time for the inevitability of his absence to dawn on us.
“The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly the 8th Senate, will miss his quality contributions.
“May the Lord give the entire Adeleke family, his friends and colleagues, the people of Ede and the State of Osun the fortitude to bear the loss,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeleke , who died on Sunday morning, was buried on Monday.
Before his death, he was representing Osun West Senatorial District on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
Adeleke was also the first civilian governor of Osun between January 1992 and November 1993 on the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP).
A popular and flamboyant politician, Adeleke was aged 62. (NAN)
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)