The 96-year old mother of the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and President-General, Association of Market Women of Nigeria, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, has died.
Alhaja Mogaji, who died in her Ikeja home yesterday, would be buried at the Ikoyi Garden and Vaults, Lagos.
She is a recent recipient of an honorary Doctorate Degree from the Ahmadu Bello University during its 50th anniversary.
Already, the tributes have started pouring in, with the Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, described the death of the matriarch as a great loss to millions of people.
In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Osun State, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor said Mogaji’s death would leave a big vacuum both in politics and commercial sectors of not only Lagos State but Nigeria at large.
Aregbesola said Mogaji led a life of substance that is worthy of emulation.
He said, “Mama Abibatu Mogaji was a mother in a million. We commiserate with her children, particularly Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for their great loss.
“We commiserate with the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu; the Mogaji family; the people of Lagos, particularly Femi Okunnu; the party; the government of Lagos; and market men and women in Nigeria and Lagos in particular.
“We pray that God gives them the fortitude to bear the loss and we pray God grants her Aljana Firdaus.”
His Lagos State counterpart, Babatunde Fashola, said the death was “a great national and personal loss.”
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, Fashola said she was a defender of people’s rights.
He said, “She was one of the pioneer traders who ventured into the capital intensive and risky business of importing consumer goods, thereby breaking the monopoly previously enjoyed by foreign tradesmen. Her business acumen attracted the attention of multi-national enterprises operating in Nigeria, then, which had no option but to register her as a business partner and distributor of their consumer goods in Nigeria.”
Also, the state Peoples Democratic Party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Gani Taofik, described the deceased as a dogged fighter for justice.