Osoba mourns NADECO chieftain, Sen. Biyi Durojaiye

A former governor of Ogun, Chief Segun Osoba, has described the death of Sen. Biyi Durojaye as tragic, despite his living up to the ripe age of 88.

Recalled that Durojaiye served as Chairman,  Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from  2016  to 2020.

The former senator, who represented Ogun East constituency at the National Assembly between 1999-2003, died in Lagos, early Tuesday morning, after a brief illness.

Osoba, in a telephone interview with newsmen, said that Durojaiye’s death came at a time when Nigeria, particularly the South-West, needed him most.

He said, ordinarily, the passing of an 88-year-old man should not be this sad, but for the fact of the state of his political family; the progressives, pro-democracy and Afenifere, in particular.

Osoba said the death of Durojaiye should be seized by his colleagues in the Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural political organisation, to revisit burning issues tearing the group apart.

“The progressives family in the Southwest geopolitical zone is presently in disarray.

“We should be using this development to put the house in order,” he said.

According to him, one of the ways to doing this,  is to encourage younger ones to take over.

“The younger ones should now be at the forefront, directing the affairs of the group.

“They don’t have to insult anyone; we did not insult our elders, but learned and took advice from them.

“Presently, we are in a disarray. The need to put our house in order cannot be overemphasised,” Osoba said.

The former Ogun governor said the deceased paid a supreme price for the enthronement of democracy in the country.

“He was a very committed pro-democracy activist, who readily sacrificed personal comfort for the good of the nation.

“Durojaiye would not hesitate to leave all the pleasantries of life, even family challenges, to be in the forefront of the general good of the country.

“I recall a day in Apapa (Lagos) during late Gen. Sani Abacha’s rule, when he had to ignore the need of his daughter to lead pro-democracy agitation.

“He was so reliable,” Osoba said.

Durojaiye earned a BSc (Economics) London and LLB, London. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1979 and was a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He was also an alumnus of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

For 35 years, he was in the public sector, including 28 years as a Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Mint.

He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the Federal Reserve System in the U.S.A and the City University London, between 1964 and 1982.

Durojaiye was also an elected member of the 1988/89 Constituent Assembly.

In 1992, he was a presidential aspirant under the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP),  losing to Chief M.K.O. Abiola.