Gani Adams mourns father and mentor, Fredrick Faseun

The Aare Ona Kakanfo, Chief Gani Adams, has mourned the statesman and founder of the Oodua People’s Congress, Dr Fredrick Faseun.

Adams, in a statement on Saturday, described the deceased as his father, saying his death was a great loss to the Yoruba race.

The late Faseun and Adams were embroiled in a leadership tussle over the control of the OPC.

The group had been broken into two, with claims and counter-claims from both factions, led by the two men.

However, the bloody tussle was resolved in March 2005 in a meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, led by a former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel.

While Faseun, who founded the group settled for the title of its spiritual leader, Adams emerged as the national coordinator.

Adams, whose installation as the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land generated controversies, said he received the news of Faseun’s death with shock.

“It was with shock that I received the sad news of the passing of our papa and founding father of Odua Peoples Congress, which occurred today, December 1, 2018. This, no doubt, is a moment of great grief for the entire family of the OPC, the Yoruba nation, Nigeria and the world at large.

“But it is also clear that the deep sense of loss over the demise of our beloved leader is shared by many like me. I hasten, therefore, to address this statement to commiserate with the immediate family over this painful bereavement,” he said in the statement.

The Yoruba leader added that the deceased, in his lifetime, made great contributions to the progress of the nation and left behind a worthy legacy through his career as a renowned medical doctor and politician.

He said the former Presidential candidate of the Labour Party was a father to him.

“I passed through him for a period of five years. Baba deserves all respect and will also be remembered as a distinguished leader in all ramification, and one that was greatly admired by the general public and his peers as a straightforward and a complete gentleman.

“He demonstrated wisdom, honesty and good leadership, established friendship, harmony, and accommodation across the board. He was as a community leader and a prominent patriot, which was no doubt a testimony to be referenced to.

“Baba exhibited very good leadership qualities, wisdom and wealth of experience which indeed he put to use in the discharge of his responsibility, as well as upholding the institution’s tradition of excellence, while alive,” he added.