Afenifere Leader, Fasanmi, is Dead

By Yinka Kolawole

The Osun State Government Thursday announced the death of elder statesman, and national leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayorinde Fasanmi, who passed on at the age of 94.

According to a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, Fasanmi was an icon who left indelible footprints in the sands of time.

“Baba Fasanmi was a leader who demonstrated his love for our great country in many laudable ways; but more heart-warming was how he showed optimal concern for the welfare of the poor and underprivileged, and how he held leaders accountable on their promises of good governance.

“We also recognise how much Osogbo, and Osun State as a whole meant to Pa Fasanmi, who was transferred to Osogbo as a Pharmacist in 1951, and he chose to live here till he took his last breath.

“The State Government of Osun appreciates all he accomplished in his lifetime, especially as a pivotal force in the socio-cultural and political bolstering of the Yoruba.

“The state government prayed that God would comfort the family at this time.”

His demise was also confirmed by his first son, Justice Obafemi Fasanmi.

The late Fasanmi made enviable and remarkable contributions to the socio-political development of Yorubaland and to the nation at large.

In the old Western Nigeria, Pa Fasanmi served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Old Western Nigeria Housing Corporation.

He was National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in 1977, elected into the Senate in 1979, and became a member of the House of Representatives in 1983.

He also served as a member of the National Constitutional Conference Commission in 1994.