The Secretary General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Lateef Adegbite, is dead.
Dr. Adegbite, 79, died in Lagos, his associate, Prof, Ishaq Oloyede, said Friday night.
The governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, has also confirmed the death of the late lawyer and academic.
A statement by the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Funmi Wakama, said Dr Adegbite, who was also the Seriki Musulumi and Baba Adini of Egbaland, “passed on this (Friday) evening in Lagos, at the age of seventy nine.”
The statement did not say the circumstances under which the late cleric died.
It however described him as one of the icons the state has produced for Nigeria.
“Dr. Adegbite shone like a star in the field of law and was well known across the world as the mouthpiece of Islam in Nigeria”, the governor stated, adding that “the late Seriki was a man who usually offered wise counsel to governments at Federal and State levels.”
“The demise of Dr Adegbite is not just a loss to Ogun State but to Nigeria as a whole” the statement.
Commenting on the demise of Adegbite, his deputy in NSCIA, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, said Nigeria has lost one of the illustrious sons of Africa.
“Baba was an academician, a lawyer, a religious leader, a political figure, the whole religious community would surely miss him’’, he said.
Mr. Oloyede, who is also the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter Religious Council (NIREC), said “it was painful that we lost him. The religious community in Nigeria would surely miss him’’.
Mr. Adegbite, CON, PhD (London), was an Attorney General of the Western State of Nigeria.
He belongs to several national, international, professional and business organisations.
He was the Principal Partner of Lateef Adegbite and Company, a leading Law Firm, which specialises in Commercial Law Practice.
He had wealth of knowledge and experience and was a member of Industrial ad General Company Limited as well as Director of Jaiz International Plc.
He was the Seriki Musulumi and Baba Adinni of Egbaland and founders of many Islamic societies and association.
He was one of the founders of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in 1954 and was the first President of the Association.
Mr. Adegbite was a personal mentor to most religious groups and individuals in Nigeria and a veritable voice for Nigerian Muslims.
A wife, children and great grand children survived him.
The late Islamic leader would be buried in his Onikolobo residence in Abeokuta at 2 p.m on Saturday.
