… says demise shocking as Owu Traditional Council announces passage
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, mourned the passing of the traditional ruler of Akinale Town, Owu Kingdom, Ogun State, Oba (Dr.) Olufemi Ogunleye, Towulade 1, describing his sudden demise as shocking and a great loss to the entire Owu land, Ogun State and the country in general.
Obasanjo, who is also the Balogun (traditional Prime Minister) of Owu, conveyed his sadness on the development just as the Owu Traditional Council formally announced the demise of the late veteran journalist, public relations guru and erudite lawyer in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
Oba Ogunleye joined his ancestors on Wednesday, June 19, in the United Kingdom after a brief illness. He was aged 79. The monarch would have clocked 80 years of age in September 2024, having been born on September 23, 1944.
The former president, in a reaction by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, described the news of the demise of Oba Ogunleye as shocking, having informed him about his travelling to the UK some weeks back, in high spirit.
Obasanjo, who is currently on a visit to South Africa for the second term inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa, said the people of Owu, Ogun State and Nigeria, as a whole, would miss the late Monarch for his resourcefulness and promotion of the cultural heritage of his people.
Meanwhile, the Owu Traditional Council, in a statement by the Oganla Owu, Chief Johnson Olu Fatoki, has formally announced Oba Ogunleye’s transition, declaring that the Council had lost one of the erudite monarchs in Owu Kingdom.
The statement described Oba Ogunleye as “peace loving, progressive and a bridge builder.”
The late Akinale monarch is survived by his wife, Olori Olanike Ogunleye, children and grandchildren, among whom is Mr. Bamidele Ogunleye of the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Abeokuta.
Burial arrangements are to be announced by the family.
