Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Aremo Segun Osoba, Deputy governor of Ogun State, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, Chief Justice of the State, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu, Chief Imam of Egbaland, Sheik Sa’dallah Bamgbola, were among dignitaries who paid the last respect to the former Attorney – General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola.
Ajibola who was also a former jurist of International Court at Hague, Netherlands, died in the early hours of Sunday following age related ailments.
After Janazah prayer led by Chief Imam of Egbaland, Sheik Sa’dallah Bamgbola, the remains of Ajibola were interred within the sprawling Islamic Mission for Africa(IMA) premises, the centre he established decades ago on Abiola Way Area of Abeokuta, the state capital.
Osinbajo arrived at the venue at about 4.57pm.
The remains of Ajibola had earlier been brought to his residence at the Olusegun Obasanjo Hilltop Estate, Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital
The body was brought in at about 10:50am in an Ebony motor hearse along with family members from Lagos where the legal luminary breathed his last.
Earlier in an interview with newsmen at the residence of the deceased, Segun Ajibola, the first son of the late former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, described his father as a passionate personality whose interest was the unity of the country.
Segun stated that his father would be sorely missed for his sense of humour, generosity and religious beliefs.
“As you can see, we are making all arrangements possible to lay him down for God Almighty to take charge of this afternoon, so that’s why we are all here making several efforts.
“We want to thank all those who have called us from far and wide, from the world courts, from across the country, from the north, from the east, all over, friends, family and a lot of people who our father had worked with over the years.
“Internationally, they have all heard about it and they have been calling us and sending us their best wishes. What we ask for is that all those who wish us well should keep us in their prayers this day and the day ahead of us as we continue with all the efforts to give him a befitting burial.
“My dad was a very passionate person, very deep and highly religious in all the efforts he made in establishing a university which has an Islamic flavour in terms of the Islamic Center he had set up and the way he had conducted himself and his life within the tenets of the religion.
“For us, as a father, he meant so many things, he was very loving, caring, but he was a strict disciplinarian, very firm and very tough. He was a thorough personality as he never allowed us to get out of hand in any way he could help, and we remember him for his high level of humour.
“My dad was a extremely humorous person and generous to a fault, we are all beneficiaries of his love and his affection and his wisdom and discipline, we will miss him dearly without a doubt”, he added
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, a tertiary institution founded by the legal luminary, Prof. Ibraheem Gbajabiamila, eulogized late Ajibola and declared that his investments in education cannot be forgotten.
“It is indeed a sad occasion for the nation we have lost an icon, we have to remember the service the proprietor Ajibola haf provided to the nation.
“When he retired at 70, was when he decided to found a university as he was concerned about the loss of our students especially those traveling abroad when there are opportunities here as well.
“The number of students capability at that time and totally caring capacity of universities was only 350,000. So, his license for a university was able to proceed to found Crescent University as a way of assisting other private universities.
“We still have a challenge in terms of the number of students sitting for JAMB, how he was always concerned about that and of course he was concerned about brain drain”, the VC noted
