Obasanjo’s former aide, Titilayo Ajanaku, dies at 73

A former Special Adviser to the President on Women Affairs under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Titilayo Ajanaku, has died.

The death of Mrs Ajanaku was confirmed by her son in a telephone interview with Mr Obasanjo in the early hours of Thursday, the former president said.

Mrs Ajanaku, according to a family source, died in the early hours of Thursday at the age of 73 years. She breathed her last at her Ibara Housing residence, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

She was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former chairman of Abeokuta Local Government, becoming the first woman to be elected as a local government chairman in Nigeria.

The late Mrs Ajanaku was a trained nurse, administrator and women leader. She was born on January 25, 1946, at Ago-Odo Quarters in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

She attended Nawair-Ud-Deen Secondary School, Abeokuta and trained in Nursing at Stobhill General Hospital, Nether-Edge City General Hospital, Sheffield, The United Kingdom between 1964 and 1965.

Mrs Ajanaku was a member of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives of Nigeria (NANNM)and was also one of the top politicians arrested and arraigned in 1995 over an alleged attempted coup.

The late politician dumped the PDP in 2015 and joined the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) ahead of that year’s election

Reacting to the news, Mr Obasanjo expressed shock over the death of his former aide, noting that her loyalty and commitment to women affairs development was exemplary and worthy of emulation.

Mr Obasanjo in a condolence letter also recalled how the late nurse joined other Nigerians to visit him in 1998 to persuade him to run for president.