Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun says he received the news of the death of renowned professor of Geography, Akin Mabogunje, who died Thursday with great shock and saddened heart.
Gov. Abiodun in a statement released in Abeokuta by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kunle Somorin, described Prof Mabogunje as a symbol of Ogun standard of excellence who dedicated his life to the quest for a better Nigeria and one of the best social scientists the nation has had.
“He belongs to the generation of scholars who put research and human development to heart. Prof Mabogunje was a disciplinarian, a man of unimpeachable pedigree and a first class nationalist, scholar and one of our greatests assets in the academia”, the statement said.
Born, October 18, 1931 in Kano of Ijebu parents, Prof Mabogunje was the first African president of the International Geographical Union. In 1999, he was the first African to be elected as a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences
“A rare gem, an intellectual of prodigious hue, who was also a loving father who would stop at nothing to ensure the welfare of his children, members of her immediate community and society at large.
“He made positive impacts not only in the number of social scienitists he mentored but in the the content and context of development in the continent. Our physical and urban planners have lost an inspiring leader and pioneer. He will be greatly missed”.
“I commiserate with the immediate family and friends of the great humanist, especially, his bossom friend, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I know this is indeed a trying period for them. It is my prayer that the Almighty God will grant them the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss”, the statement concluded.