A former Military Governor of Oyo state and one-time Sole Administrator of Ekiti State, General Tunji Olurin (rtd.) has passed on at the age of 77.
It was gathered that the former military governor died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), in the early hours of Saturday.
The deceased’s brother, Funso Olurin has also confirmed the demise of the retired Army General. According to him, Olurin died after a brief illness.
Olurin was born in Ilaro, Ogun State to the Chief M.A.O. Olurin, the Agoro of Ilaro, and Madam Abigail Fola Olurin. He was educated at Egbado College (now Yewa College), and attended the Technical College, Ibadan (now Ibadan Polytechnic) in 1966. He became a trainee at the Times Press in Apapa, Lagos. In 1967 he entered the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, where he obtained his NDA Certificate of Education. He attended many professional courses during his army career. He was a graduate of the School of Infantry, Quetta, Pakistan, the Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.
Olurin enrolled into the Nigerian Army in 1967 as an officer cadet of the 3rd Regular Course where he obtained his NDACE (Nigerian Defence Academic of Education) and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army in March, 1970. He became the Brigade Battalion in Kainji in 1973 and was the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
He was Deputy Defence Adviser to the Nigerian High Commission in India (1975–1978) with the rank of major. After attending Staff College in 1978, he was deployed to the United Nations Peace Keeping Operation in Lebanon, where he commanded the Nigerian troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). His battalion was deployed between the Palestinian and Israeli forces. In 1981, as General Staff Officer, Operations at Army Headquarters, he mobilized the OAU peacekeeping force in Chad. This force included troops from Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya and Zaire. General Olurin also served as ECOMOG Commander in Liberia.
In 1981, he conducted operations in Kano to suppress rebels led by religious fundamentalists.
Following the August 1985 coup, where Major General Muhammadu Buhari was deposed and replaced by Brigadier Ibrahim Babangida, Lt. Col. Tunji Olurin was Commander of the 1st Mechanized Brigade, Minna. He was “aware” but not “active” in the coup. After the coup, he was appointed the Military Governor of Oyo State (1985–1988). During his tenure as governor, he was a member of the National Council of States. In 1987 he set up a committee that recommended establishment of what became the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in 1988.
Olurin was also a former Military Administrator of Ekiti state between October 8, 2006 till April 27, 2007.
He was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate in the 2011 general elections in Ogun state.
