He played a vital role in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought the Sani Abacha military junta
The national publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, is dead. The revered activist widely regarded as a fearless comrade died of COVID-19 complications at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
His wife, Joe Okei-Odumakin, confirmed his death on Saturday.
It was gathered that the late Odumakin had been sick with COVID-19 for some time but had “underlying issues”.
The deceased was a human rights activist who played a vital role in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought the Sani Abacha regime after the annulment of the nation’s historic June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Odumakin was a critic of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
He was an adherent advocate of restructuring and often said it is the only way to avoid disintegration.
Towards the end of 2020, he released a statement on behalf of Afenifere, saying Nigeria was on the brink of collapse.
The statement came in the wake of the spate of insecurity in the country and the fallout of the #EndSARS protests.
Odumakin had noted that Nigeria “had virtually become ungovernable and unless it is restructured and restored to federalism, it will collapse”.
He was the spokesman of Afenifere for over two decades, coordinating the publicity and public relations activities of the Yoruba socio-cultural organization.
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