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The burial rites for Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, former governor of Kwara State and one-time senator, begin today. Adebayo passed away on June 25 in Abuja at the age of 84.
Funeral activities will commence with a night of tribute and service of songs at the Los Angeles Event Centre, Kado, Abuja, starting at 5 p.m. today.
According to the Adebayo family, the observances will continue with a Christian wake-keeping and praise night at 4 p.m. on October 10 at the Government Banquet Hall, opposite Government House, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State.
The final funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. on October 11 at All Saints Anglican Church, Oke Onigbin, Kwara State.
Born in Igbaja, Kwara State, Adebayo served as governor in 1983 and was elected senator in 1979 on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform. He later became Nigeria’s Minister of Communications from 2003 to 2006.
A dedicated democrat, Adebayo was an active member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which fought to restore the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential mandate of MKO Abiola.
In 1993, he declined an offer to serve in General Sani Abacha’s military government. Two years later, following a bomb explosion in Ilorin, Adebayo and other NADECO members were detained and interrogated by police.
As the regime intensified its crackdown, Adebayo fled into exile in Canada in 1996, where he lived briefly before returning home after the restoration of civilian rule.
