Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore has mourned a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia.
The 64-year-old development economist died at the National Hospital Abuja on Sunday morning.
Luka Binniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) had said Mailafia, who took refuge in Makurdi, Benue state, following alleged persistent harassment by the Department of State Services (DSS), fell sick on Saturday and was rushed to an Abuja hospital where he was pronounced dead on Sunday morning.
The former deputy governor, who was the Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 election, was a known government critic and had advocated for public sector and exchange rate reforms.
Mailafia was born on December 24, 1956, in the Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He later graduated top of his class at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1978 with BSc.
Mailafia was appointed deputy governor of the CBN in 2005 from the African Development Bank (AfDB) where he served as the chief economist responsible for Strategic Planning and Corporate Reporting.
Reacting on Sunday in a Facebook post and on Twitter, Sowore described the deceased as a powerful voice for social justice.
“Dr. Malafia Obadiah is Dead. He was a powerful voice for social justice, although he was said to have died after a ‘protracted illness’, it is however on record that he was hounded till the very end by the lawless DSS agents of the unconscionable and tyrannical regime of Muhammadu Buhari. Rest In Power, Doc! #RevolutionNow #BuhariMustGo,” the activist wrote.
Rest In Power. Doc! #RevolutionNow #BuhariMustGo
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) September 19, 2021
