Cornelius Adebayo, Who Rejected Abacha’s Ministerial Offer, Dies at 84
Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, a former governor of Kwara State and prominent pro-democracy advocate, has died at the age of 84.
Family sources told TheCable that Adebayo passed away in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja. Born on February 24, 1941, in Igbaja, Kwara State, Adebayo was widely regarded for his principled stance during Nigeria’s military era and his contributions to education and democracy.
Adebayo’s political career began in the Second Republic when he was elected senator on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform in 1979. He went on to become governor of Kwara State in 1983 before the military coup that ended the Second Republic.
He also served as Nigeria’s Minister of Communications from 2003 to 2006.
Adebayo was a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the group of pro-democracy activists that sought to reclaim the presidential mandate of MKO Abiola following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election. In defiance of military rule, “Adebayo was offered a ministerial position in the Sani Abacha junta but declined.”
On May 31, 1995, following a bomb blast in Ilorin, Adebayo was arrested alongside other NADECO members. He later fled into exile in 1996 as the Abacha regime intensified its crackdown. “The police arrested and grilled Adebayo and other members of NADECO over the incident.”
Before his political rise, Adebayo was Kwara State’s education commissioner from 1975 to 1978, a tenure credited with initiating key education reforms that shaped the state’s academic development.
