TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
THE Pan-Yoruba Yoruba group, Afenifere, has been thrown into mourning, following the death of its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin.
Odumakin reportedly died of complications from COVID-19 early Saturday at the age of 56. He was said to have been battling underlying conditions such as diabetes before the COVID-19 attack.
Reacting to the death of the political activist, a member of Afenifere, Niyi Owolade, while speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, described his demise as a monumental tragedy.
Owolade said Odumakin was full of potentials, stressing that his death “is devastating and a tragedy for the Yoruba nation and Nigeria at large.”
“This is very sad. This is a monumental tragedy. We just lost a young man full of potentials and vigour. We should not be losing people this way. That’s why I have been extra careful with this COVID thing since I came around,” he added.
Also mourning Odumakin’s demise, a notable Yoruba leader and former Minister of Aviation, Ebenezer Babatope, said the deceased was an activist of a kind.
Babatope said he and his family had been thrown into mourning since the news of Odumakin’s death broke out.
“I am speechless. He was a very good boy; an activist of a kind. Myself and my family have been mourning his demise. Odumakin was a vibrant newspaper critic. I can’t imagine him dying just like that. This is very painful. I just pray God to preserve his soul,” Babatope said in an emotion-ladden voice.