Deputy Head of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), AbdulAzeez Arisekola Alao, has died at the age of 69.
He was was also the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland until his death.
Family sources confirmed the death on Wednesday
Mr. Arisekola Alao, an Ibadan-based Islamic leader, is noted for his philanthropy towards Islamic causes.
The Eagle Online gathered that he was recently flown to Switzerland for medical attention from where he was moved to London.
Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has described the death as tragic, disheartening and a big blow, not only to the state but also to the entire country.
The governor stated this in a statement issued in Ibadan on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.
He said that he received the news of the death of the business mogul and religious leader with shock and disbelief, saying that the passage of Alhaji Arisekola-Alao marked the end of an era in the history of the state.
“Aare cannot die as those who lived the kind of life he lived, with imprints in the lives of millions of people, never die. He lived a life that was devoted to the lives of others. It is indeed the end of an era for us in Ibadan and Nigeria in general,” the governor said.
Governor Ajimobi described the late Alhaji Arisekola-Alao as a devout Muslim, shrewd businessman and a philanthropist whose commitment to the cause of the downtrodden in the society was unequalled.
“Uncle Arisekola-Alao was an upright, consistent and principled man. He called a spade by its name without minding whose ox was gored.
“Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland was also a pillar of support to our administration whose wise counsel had helped tremendously in the success story so far recorded by our government,” he remarked.
Although he said that the death of the late religious leader was painful and that the vacuum that would be created by his passage would be hard to fill, the governor, however, said that Alhaji Arisekola-Alao lived a fulfilled life.
“He was a fulfilled man, fulfilled in all his earthly assignments. I am sure he died very happy with himself. Besides, Arisekola-Alao also used his God-given endowment to touch the lives of several millions of people. He was a source of joy to those who came across him,” he said.
Governor Ajimobi commiserated with the family, friends, associates, religious leaders, the Muslim Ullammahs and indeed, the entire people of the state and prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased.
He urged them to take solace in the imperishable life devoted to humanity that he lived.