A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has shockingly passed away at the age of 64 years, leaving an ocean of tears behind.
It was gathered that the outspoken economist died on Sunday after suffering a brief illness.
Mailafia was born on 24 December 1956 in the village of Randa in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He started his elementary education at Musha Sudan United Mission School from 1964 to 1969 and proceeded to Mada Hills Secondary School, Akwanga from 1970 to 1974. For his A ‘Levels, he attended the School of Basic Studies (SBS) at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 1974 and 1975. He later proceed and graduated top of his class at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1978 with a B.Sc. Honours Social Sciences degree (Politics, Economics and Sociology). He also has a M.Sc. from the same institution.
From 2001 to 2005, Mailafia served as a chief economist in the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Department of the African Development Bank Group. He served both in Abidjan and in Tunis when the bank was temporarily relocated to Tunisia.
He was appointed as CBN Deputy governor on 5 May 2005 and served in that capacity till 26 March 2007.
During his time as the Deputy Governor, Mailafia oversaw the reduction of the number of commercial banks, through mergers and acquisitions, from 89 to 25 consolidated banks; an exercise that was widely regarded as one of the most successful such efforts anywhere in the developing world in recent times.
Mailafia also contested in the 2019 presidential election under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
