CACOL MOURNS THE DEATH OF YINKA ODUMAKIN
The Centre for Anti-Corruption anad Open Leadership, CACOL, with sympathy and much grief mourns the death of Comrade Yinka Odumakin.
In a release issued on behalf of the Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the organisation’s Director of Administration and Programmes, he said “we mourn the sudden death of Comrade Yinka Odumakin who until his death was the national Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, a Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group who died on Saturday, 3rd of April, 2021 at Lagos State University teaching Hospital from respiratory issues due to complications resulting from COVID-19”.
“The news of his death came as a great shock to us as we least expect it. He was an activist, a leader, mentor to many younger folks, lover of the masses and downtrodden, a solution provider, job creator and employer of labour. Yinka, was a quintessential nationalist and freedom fighter from many fronts. A courageous politician who didn’t mind what others say but stay with the principle that guides his thoughts. He left when the thought that he may not make it had subsided. He was an activist with unique attributes since his days as student leader. We love him but nature had to take its course. We mourn his demise but we are consoled that he left when the ovation he attracted to all of us was still good. We will really miss him”.
“Irrespective of his age, the loss of a loyal colleague in the struggle normally leaves a yawning gap in one’s mind whenever one remembers him. We can only take consolation in the fact that death is the inevitable end of all mortals, without which life would have been so boring, brutish, and in a way, humiliating; hence, we are all born to die”.
The CACOL boss also said “we would recollect how Yinka Odumakin devoted his life and times for the cause of humanity. He played a key role in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought the government of Sani Abacha after the annulment of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election. He was among the spokespersons of the Southern and Middle Belt Leader’s Forum (SMBLF). He was the spokesman of Muhammadu Buhari when he contested the 2011 Nigerian presidential election under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change. In 2014, during the government of Goodluck Jonathan, Odumakin and his wife were the only married couple among the 492-member 2014 National Conference which was held in Abuja, Nigeria. Before his death, he had also advocated the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Operation Amotekun.
His love for people and quest for an egalitarian society seriously impacted on the legacy he bequeathed to all who encountered him during his sojourn on earth”.
“His death is an irreparable loss not only to the people of Moro his home town but to Osun State in particular and the country in general. His memory will linger on for generations to come by all privileged to know him or any of the family members”.
“We pray for the required fortitude and composure to bear his irreversible transition to eternity. Death, as we all surmise, remains an inevitable end of all; but our solace and comfort remains in the fact that he lived a worthy and remarkable life”.
Adieu and rest well Comrade Yinka Odumakin!!!
Tola Oresanwo
Director, Administration and Programmes, CACOL