The Yoruba Council of Elders on Wednesday described the late Adebayo Faleti as a cultural icon, saying it received the news of his death with shock.
A communiqué signed by the President-General of the group, Chief Idowu Sofola, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and its Secretary-General, Dr. Kunle Olajide, at the end of its 19th National Executive Committee Meeting in Ibadan, also described the passage of Dr Olu Onagoruwa as a loss to the Yoruba race and Nigeria in general.
“The YCE receives with sadness the passing unto glory of Alagba Adebayo Faleti, a cultural icon of Yoruba and Yoruba language exponent, poet and dramatist.
“Onagoruwa was a foremost solicitor, a human rights activist and a fighter for press freedom. Their death is a great loss to Yorubaland and Nigeria. We condole with their families and the entire nation,” the communiqué stated.
Meanwhile, one of the sons of Faleti, Gbemisola, has told our correspondent that the family has fixed a date for his burial. He said the family of the deceased visited the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on Tuesday to formally break news of his passage to the monarch.
He said, “Our father was a prince of Oyo and there is a traditional procedure on how to announce his death to the monarch. The government of Oyo State has a stake in the burial plan. The family has scheduled his burial to take place between September 5 and 8, 2017. We would have chosen earlier dates but the government must be carried along as requested and we don’t want to give the government a short notice.
“He is going to be buried in his home in the Agboye area of Oyo after a burial service at First Baptist Church, Isokun, Oyo. Before then, his body will be taken to the Cultural Centre, Ibadan and the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, where he worked, so that people can pay him their last respect.”