IBADAN – Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state has described the death of renowned Islamic leader, Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao, as tragic and a big blow to the entire country.
The governor stated this in a statement issued in Ibadan on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr Festus Adedayo.
Ajimobi said that he received the news of the death of the business mogul and religious leader with shock and disbelief, saying that the passage of Arisekola-Alao marked the end of an era in the history of the state.
“Aare cannot die, as those who lived the kind of life he lived, with imprints in the lives of millions of people never die.
“He lived a life that was devoted to the lives of others. It is indeed the end of an era for us in Ibadan and Nigeria in general,” the statement said.
Arisekola, 69, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, died abroad on Wednesday morning.
Ajimobi described the late Arisekola-Alao as a devout Muslim, shrewd businessman and a philanthropist whose commitment to the cause of the downtrodden in the society was unequalled.
“Uncle Arisekola-Alao was an upright, consistent and principled man. He called a spade by its name without minding whose ox was gored.
“Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland was also a pillar of support to our administration whose wise counsel had helped tremendously in the success story so far recorded by our government,’’ he said.
The governor said although the death of the late religious leader was painful and the vacuum created by his passage hard to fill. Arisekola-Alao lived a fulfilled life.
“He was a source of joy to those who came across him,’’ he said.
Ajimobi commiserated with the family, friends, associates, religious leaders, the Muslim Ullammahs and indeed, the entire people of the state and prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased.
He urged them to take solace in the imperishable life devoted to humanity that he lived. (NAN)
