A prominent pro-democracy figure, former senator and ex-governor of Kwara State, Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo has been announced dead at the age of 84.
Family sources confirmed that Adebayo passed away in the early hours of Wednesday, June 25, in Abuja.
Born on February 24, 1941, in the Igbaja community of Kwara State, Adebayo played significant roles in Nigeria’s political and democratic evolution.
He was elected senator in 1979 under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and served as governor of Kwara State in 1983 before the military coup later that year ended the Second Republic.
He was appointed Minister of Communications under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 2003 to 2006, during which he oversaw key transitions in Nigeria’s telecoms sector.
A steadfast advocate for democracy, Adebayo was a prominent member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the group of pro-democracy activists that challenged the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election believed to have been won by MKO Abiola.
In 1993, he famously rejected a ministerial offer from the Sani Abacha regime, choosing instead to align with democratic forces. Following a 1995 bomb explosion in Ilorin, Adebayo and other NADECO members were detained and questioned by the police. Facing increased pressure and threats from the junta, he went into exile in Canada in 1996.
Before his national prominence, Adebayo was credited with pioneering educational reforms in Kwara State, serving as commissioner for education between 1975 and 1978.
His contributions to the sector remain a reference point in the state’s educational development.
