By Deborah Hassan
Professor of Criminology and member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Femi Odekunle, has died due to alleged complications arising from COVID-19 infection.
Odekunle, acclaimed to be the first Professor of Criminology in Nigeria, was a long time lecturer in the Department of Sociology in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
He was a graduate of the University of Ibadan, with a Ph.D in Sociology and Social Psychiatry from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States.
He was said to have breathed his last at an isolation centre in Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital, Abuja.
Confirming his death last night, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed utmost shock at the news of the demise of Professor Femi Odekunle, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC.”
He stated further, “The President described Professor Odekunle as valued friend and a towering intellectual giant with an impeccable knowledge of his chosen academic field, criminology and in such others as governance and administration.
“His lasting contributions as well as his charisma, wit and sense of humor will be sorely missed by all us, his friends and associates. May the Almighty repose his soul.”