A former governor of Lagos State, Sir Michael Otedola, is dead.
News of his death filtered in on Monday morning.
He is the father of billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola.
Sir Otedola was the governor of Lagos State between 1992 and 1993, during the truncated transition programme of former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
He was elected on the platform of the National Republican Convention.
He emerged governor against the run of thoughts after a crisis engulfed the then Social Democratic Party in Lagos State over the choice of governorship candidate.
Otedola, born on July 26, 1926, studied journalism at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London, from where he graduated in 1958.
He was a teacher before picking up appointment as a reporter with the St. Pancras Chronicle.
He later became a Sub-Editor at The Guardian and The Times of England.
In 1959, when he returned to Nigeria, Otedola became the Information Officer of the Western Nigeria Government.
He also worked with the Nigerian Television Authority and Mobil Oil Group of Companies.
Meanwhile, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, on Monday, declared a seven-day mourning period in honour of the former governor of the state.
Fashola, making the declaration in Ikeja, directed that flags in all state government offices and institutions should fly at half mast during the period to honour the deceased.
The governor described Otedola’s death as a great loss to the state and noted that the former governor’s administration was characterised by great achievements.
“His indelible record of service is still there. The centre for excellence we proudly proclaim today was his choice when he was invited among other governors to choose a sobriquet for Lagos.
“That and some other impactful projects he executed as governor are still visible and will remain evergreen in our memories,” he said.
Also, former Works Minister, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, has expressed shock at the death of Pa Otedola, saying Lagos State had lost an illustrious son and a leader in his own right.
Ogunlewe, who only heard of the sad news when the Nigerian Tribune sought his reaction, exclaimed “ye, ye, ye” in vernacular and became speechless.
He, thereafter, commiserated with the son of the deceased, Mr Femi Otedola and other family members, saying: “My condolences go to my good friend, Femi and other family members.”
In a related development, the chairman, Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Captain Tunji Shelle, described the death of Pa Otedola as a sad loss.
Shelle said this in a statement issued and made available to the Nigerian Tribune, that he was a “classical example of who a Governor Emeritius should be, having served with sincerity and retiring from politics to be a statesman for subsequent governors in the state.”
Still on Otedola’s death, governorship aspirant on the platform of Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Leke Pitan, has described the death of Pa Otedola as a great loss, not only to Epe, where he hailed from, but to Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general.
He said it was a loss, because Otedola was a somebody we all loved, a successful businessman, as well as a “father all of us.”
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