Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday expressed shock over the death of his erstwhile Presidential Adviser on Women Affairs, Mrs. Titilayo Ajanaku, saying her loyalty and commitment to women affairs development was exemplary and worthy of emulation.
Mrs. Ajanaku, a registered nurse and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, died on Wednesday morning. She was 76.
Until her death, she was the Otun Iyalode of Egbaland and former Chairman of old Abeokuta Local Government, having been the pioneer female elected council boss in Ogun State.
The frontline politician had been ill for years before she lost the battle to death.
Obasanjo, who noted that he received the news of Ajanaku’s death from her son, who phoned to relay the sad and shocking news to him, recalled how the late erudite nursing professional and other Nigerians visited him in 1998 to persuade him to contesting for the presidential election.
In a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, the ex-president described the late politician as a woman who would do everything in her capacity to uplift, improve and advance women’s cause.
He said this largely informed why he appointed her as his Women Adviser, the position she held creditably well.
The former President, who wrote a personal condolence letter to the Head of the Ajanaku family, stated that she played a prominent role in his decision to contest for the post of President in 1998.
Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has expressed shock over the death of Mrs. Ajanaku.
Prince Abiodun described the late Otun Iyalode of Egbaland as a foremost political activist and woman leader, an astute administrator who served the state meritoriously as the Chairman of the old Abeokuta Local Government Area and the nation at large at the Federal Executive Council.
“I received the news of the demise of this great woman with shock and unbelief.
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‘’Mama Ajanaku was a woman of many parts. A trained Nurse, an activist fighting the course of women, a politician of high esteem and a great philanthropist.
“Mama Ajanaku as her name implies in Yorubaland, treaded where even men feared to tread. In politics of Ogun State and even Nigeria, she was a colossus, being the first woman in Nigeria to be elected a local government chairman and a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party.
“We will miss her particularly now that all hands are needed to build our future together. Though she is no more, we are happy that she lived an impactful life, a life of service to God and humanity”, Abiodun said.
The Governor noted that the death of the former Special Adviser to former President Obasanjo on Women Affairs, has created a vacuum which would be difficult to fill, adding that the state and his administration in particular, would miss her services, wise counselling and advice.
Praying God to give the soul of the late Otun Iyalode of Egbaland eternal rest and the family the fortutitude to bear the irreplaceable loss, Prince Abiodun urged them to imbibe her exemplary life of service to God and humanity.
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