2020 has been adjudged one of the most unpleasant years globally. This could be attributed primarily to the many fatalities and other losses that were recorded this year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that is ravaging humanity across the world and other factors too.
In Nigeria, it has been one sad tale after another. The year has recorded an unprecedented number of deaths among known personalities, including celebrities, politicians, monarchs, business moguls, among others.
In this report, 365Daily profiles some prominent Nigerians who passed away in the year 2020.
Abba Kyari
Perhaps the most influential person in Nigeria to die in 2020, Mallam Abba Kyari was the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kyari, who was appointed Chief of Staff in August, 2015 by President Buhari, tested positive to COVID-19 on March 24, 2020. He was believed to have contracted the virus in Germany, while on an official visit to Germany.
Sen. Bayo Osinowo
Before his death, Osinowo was the Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District. He passed away on June 15, 2020, at the age of 64. Popularly known as ‘Pepperito’, his death came at a time when he urged the public to be mindful of the deadly virus. He was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, Industry and Investments.
Abiola Ajimobi
The immediate past governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, 70, died on June 25, 2020, following complications from COVID-19.
While battling with the virus, Ajimobi was declared the Acting Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), after the Court of Appeal upheld the suspension of its estranged former chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
Sen. Buruji Kashamu
He died of COVID-19 at the First Cardiologist Hospital, Lagos State, on Saturday, August 8, 2020, at the age of 62. Kashamu was a popular political figure who represented Ogun East in the 8th Assembly and a strong man in the politics of the state.
He was laid to rest at his home town, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun state on Sunday, August 9, 2020.
Sam Nda-Isaiah
Also on the list of prominent personalities who died in 2020 is media guru, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Nda-Isaiah, who was the Chairman and Publisher of LEADERSHIP Newspaper, died on the night of Friday, December 12, 2020, following a brief illness.
He was a pharmacist but he left his footprints as a newspaperman, with three dailies, including the flagship LEADERSHIP, in his stable.
Prof. Habu Galadima
Erstwhile Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Prof. Habu Galadima, died on December 20, 2020 at the age of 57, following a brief illness.
He was a lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Plateau State, for several years before his appointment as NIPPS DG.
Major Gen. Johnson Olubunmi Irefin
Major General Johnson Olubunmi Irefin, the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, died on December 10, 2020, following complications from COVID-19.
Irefin hailed from Kogi State.
Prof. Jerry Agada
A former Minister of Education and Chairman, Benue State Civil Service Commission, Prof Jerry Agada died in Makurdi on December 22, 2020, at the age of 68 following a brief illness.
Agada, a career civil servant, contested the governorship election in Benue in 2007.
Atta Igala, Idakwo Ameh-Oboni II
The paramount ruler of Igala Kingdom, the Attah Igala, Michael Idakwo Ameh-Oboni II, died in Abuja on August 27, 2020, after a brief illness. He was 72.
He retired as an estate officer from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and was appointed the Attah Igala in 2013.
Prof. Isah Hashim
Hashim died on May 3, 2020. He was a distinguished traditional icon, an A-list civil servant, and an academic.
He was a respected Professor of Political Science and a former Permanent Secretary who had held various positions at the Kaduna Polytechnic, Bayero University, Kano (BUK), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
Late Professor Isah Hashim was the Jarman Kano until his death.
Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi
On April 25, 2020, Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi, a former Chairman of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, passed on.
The late Professor Ayagi was a school teacher and a university lecturer who was later appointed as a Commissioner in Kano State overseeing two ministries at a time. He held various positions with different financial institutions in Nigeria before his death.
Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua
Publisher, business mogul and former President of Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua, died on July 20, 2020, after a brief illness.
Until his death, Funtua was one of the most influential politicians and businessmen in the country.
Hon. Tunde Buraimoh
Until his death, Hon. Tunde Buraimoh was the Chairman of Lagos House of Assembly Committee on Information and Strategy. He died on July 10, 2020.
The late Buraimoh represented Kosofe Constituency 2, and was a former chairman of Kosofe Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State. He was a socialite and a popular grassroots politician.
AbdulGaniyu Folorunsho Abdul-Razaq
The First Republic Minister and Ambassador to Ivory Coast, he was also the first lawyer from Northern Nigeria and was the first Commissioner of Finance in Kwara State after the state was formed in 1967, under Yakubu Gowon’s military administration.
He is the father of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State. He was 93.
Pa Ayo Fasanmi
A prominent elder statesman and leader of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Senator Ayo Fasanmi died on July 30, 2020, at 94 in Osogbo, Osun State.
Fasanmi, who served at the House of Representatives and Senate at different times, was among core loyalists of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Suleiman Achimugu
Achimugu was a former Managing Director of PPMC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), subsidiary in charge of petroleum products marketing and distribution.
Mr Achimugu’s family said he died while self-isolating on March 23,2020, after showing symptoms of the virus following his return to the country from the United Kingdom.
Wahab Adegbenro
The Ondo State Commissioner of Health, Wahab Adegbenro, died from COVID-19 complications on July 2, 2020, at the state’s infectious disease hospital. He died two days after handing the positive test result of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to him.
Before venturing into politics, he ran his hospital in the state where he provided inexpensive healthcare, sometimes free, to many residents, thus earning a good reputation.
His popularity reflected in how hundreds of Ondo residents thronged his burial, which held a day after his death.
Richard Akinjide
Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide (SAN, CON, CFR) died on April 21, 2020 at the ripe age of 89 years. He was considered one of the most intriguing and accomplished Nigerians of Yoruba extraction.
Colonel Emmanuel Nwobosi
He was one of the 1966 Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu-led coup plotters and Chief of Staff to Biafra War Lord, late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
He died on November 24, 2020, at his country home, Obosi, in Idemili North Local government Area of Anambra State, after a brief illness at the age of 81.
Gbolabo Ogunsanwo
A former Editor of defunct Sunday Times and celebrated columnist, was said to have died on Friday, November 27, 2020, after a brief illness.
The cerebral writer, who coined the very famous phrase, “If you Tarka me, I will Daboh you,” was at the time both the Editor of the mass circulating Sunday Times (selling about a million copies every Sunday) and Acting Editor of Daily Times.
Based on records, the great Ogunsanwo took Sunday Times to a height yet unbeaten by any weekly paper in Nigeria.
Chief Harry Akande
A renowned business tycoon and former presidential hopeful, he died on December 5, 2020 at the age of 77 after a brief illness.
Akande was reputed to be one of the richest men in Nigeria. He was the chairman of Akande International Corporation (AIC) — with interest in healthcare, engineering, building construction and power.
Dapo Ojora
A socialite and one of the famous polo players in Nigeria, he was one of the sons of boardroom guru, Otunba Adekunle Ojora and Erelu Ojuolape Ojora.
He died on 11 December, 2020 after allegedly shooting himself in the head.
His death came four years after he escaped death in a ghastly power bike accident, where many feared he would not survive but he did.
Majek Fashek
The beloved Nigerian reggae star died in his sleep in New York, United States of America, on June 1, 2020 at the age of 57.
The singer/songwriter was born in Benin-City, Edo State, in 1963 and rose to prominence in 1988 when he released his solo debut, Prisoner of Conscience (with his band known as the Prisoners of Conscience), which included the award-winning single, “Send Down the Rain.”
Jonathan Adewumi
He was based in the United States of America.
Adewumi was the co-owner of the popular downtown Brooklyn restaurant, Amarachi. The restaurant/event space is known as a gathering place for the area’s African community, and features a wide breadth of Afro-Carribean cuisine; from jollof rice and suya to sweet plantains and goat pepper soup.
Aside from the restaurant, Adewumi was responsible for running the city’s Nigerian Film Festival, as well as a travel business called Homeland Travels and Tours that facilitated vacations to various regions in Africa. In the ’80s and ’90s, Adewumi also launched and ran a successful clothing business, Nigerian Fabrics and Fashions, with his two siblings.
Prof. Femi Odekunle
Until his death, the acclaimed first Professor of Criminology in Nigeria was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) headed by Professor Itse Sagay.
Odekunle, who spent a good part of his years lecturing at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, died at the COVID-19 Isolation Centre in Gwagalada, Abuja, on Tuesday, December 29, 2020.