Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said aside from impacting the lives of many in his community, the Southwest and across the country, the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, was a bridge-builder whose great intellectual knowledge and depth would be missed.
He stated this on Monday in a chat with journalists in Akure while on a visit to Ondo State.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement today.
According to the Vice President, “We all feel a great deal of pain and a deep sense of loss. The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, was a force of nature all by himself, he was a man of incredible knowledge and depth, he was erudite in every way.
“He was a bridge builder and I think he created several avenues in the 52 odd years that he reigned. He created several avenues for people from the Southwest of Nigeria to interact with people from other zones from those very early days.”
Speaking about his personal experience with the late highly referred monarch, Prof. Osinbajo said, “I had several meetings with him, especially in Abuja, whenever he was in Abuja and sometimes in Ibadan.
“He was one of the most intelligent commentators on public life in Nigeria, on politics and he had such a deep knowledge of politics and international relations and international affairs and even in Nigerian political economy.
“He wrote several articles and books and he was always very keen to share them. I think that clearly, the Alaafin of Oyo was somebody I believe that the monarchy hid away from most of Nigeria just in terms of his intellectual depth and his knowledge.”
