Ozekhome Said He Thought Odumakin’s Death Was April Fool Day’s Prank
A constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Dr Mike Ozekhome (SAN), on Sunday described Yinka Odumakin as a “courageous wordsmith whose pen is mightier than the sword.”
Yinka, who was a vocal activist, and columnist, died at LASUTH on Saturday from COVID-19 complications.
His wife, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, had earlier said that he was recovering and had asked for his phones and gadgets before he relapsed and died.
Ozekhome in a statement said, “When I saw a posting concerning Comrade Yinka Odumakin’s death, I thought the poster was still carrying out the pranks of ‘April Fool’s Day’… Out of sheer curiosity, I called one of our soul mates in the human rights and pro-democracy world, Dr Joe Okei Odumakin, who has been a life-long Yinka’s wife.”
He added that he was devastated when Joe confirmed Yinka’s death, and that that he had not gotten his clarity of thought since that moment.
On the other hand, the Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, described the death of Odumakin as a huge loss to the country, the human rights community and the OAU.
A statement on Sunday by the Public Relations Officer of OAU, Abiodun Olarewaju, stated that Odumakin who graduated from the Department of English Language of the institution in 1989, “was a vibrant student activist, a mass mobiliser, a great orator and the Public Relations Officer of the Students Union.”
The statement read, “As an Alumnus, he assisted the Faculty of Arts in raising funds for a few projects that were of immense benefits to the staff and students.”
