…Says Death Saddening
Professor Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, (PACAC) is dead.
Odekunle, Nigeria’s first professor of criminology died of Covid-19 on Tuesday at 77.
Before his passage, reports said he had spent about 12 days at the Gwagwalada isolation centre in the Federal Capital Territory.
Earlier, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha had hinted about his death as he declared that a “very close friend” of government died at 6.30pm.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu confirmed Odekunle’s death as he described him as a valued friend.
The President also said he was a towering intellectual giant with an impeccable knowledge of his chosen academic field, criminology and in such others as governance and administration.
“His death is very saddening. His lasting contributions as well as his charisma, wit and sense of humour will be sorely missed by all us, his friends and associates. May the Almighty repose his soul,” Buhari said.
Born in Ilesha, Osun state, Odekunle graduated from the University of Ibadan, in 1968.
He got his PhD in sociology and social psychiatry from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in the United States, in 1974.
Odekunle also served as political adviser to former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya, during the military rule of General Sanni Abacha.
