A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo has described the death of a party stalwart, Chief Rex Olawoye as devastating and a great loss to the state.
In a statement on Friday in Ilorin described Olawoye as a forthright, honest and committed leader of the party, ROYAL NEWS reports.
Oyedepo, who is also the chairman Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, said late Rex Olawoye was his senior in
Secondary School.
He was the chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP) when Late Rex Olawoye was the Publicity Secretary of the party.
According to him, “Though we were school mates, he was my senior. We were prefects in
the same Blue House, he was my immediate predecessor. He was the brightest of his set and the fastest runner in our school. He was a Politician like me, but he was in politics before me. When he was in the Executive as the Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government
between 1999 and 2002, I was in the legislature in the same party.
“When we used the PDP Platform for political struggle for freedom between 2014 and 2018, he was in the trenches with me. He was a moderating voice to my sometimes radical disposition to issues. His youthful radicalism I used to know at school had been
tamed by age and experience.
“Where I would be brutally frank, Egbon would be strategically gentle to talk truth to authority. He was humble enough to serve under his Aburo and junior at school. He guided my steps with brilliance, colour and wisdom,” Oyedepo said.
He said that what people see outside of chief Rex was this diminutive figure that people may want to take for granted, adding; “You do that
at your own peril.
“The inside of Rex was cast in steel. I need to tell the whole world that until his last, he did not betray our cause. Not rich in worldly possessions but rich in credibility, character
and faith. For more than three days to his demise, my desire to see him was intensely troubling.
“My only regret is that I had been out of Kwara for sometimes and could not see him before he, like all mortals gave up the ghost. The only befitting memorial we shall erect in honour of this departed doyen of our liberation is that the struggle that eventually defined the purpose of his life shall continue.
“This, we shall do until we win or we lay down our swords like Chief Rex Kolawole Olawoye. Good night, my brother and compatriot.”
