The mood in Iju-Odo, Ondo State was sober
yesterday as the remains of former Governor Olusegun Kokumo Agagu were buried.
The ceremony, planned to be elaborate by the state government, was downgraded
and the mood fouled up by Thursday’s crash of the plane carrying the body of
the governor from Lagos. Thirteen people including the Commissioner for Culture
and Tourism, Mr Deji Falae, died in the Associated Airlines’ plane crash. There
were seven survivors including Agagu’s son Feyi and son- in- law Femi
Akinsanya. Governor Olusegun Mimiko who learnt of the crashed plane at the
Akure Airport, while waiting to receive the body, was absent at the burial
yesterday. But the state government was represented by a three-man delegation
which included Senator Boluwaji Kunlere (leader of delegation) and Hon Jumoke
Akindele. The state government is still mourning having lost three other
officials apart from the commissioner in the crash. The dead were deputy chief
of protocol, a protocol officer and the Lagos Liaison officer, according to
officials. President Goodluck Jonathan sent Police Affairs Minister Caleb
Olubolade to stand in for him. Governors of Southwest states during the time
Agagu was Ondo State governor were among the mourners at Iju-Odo. They were
Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun) Segun Oni (Ekiti) and Olagunsoye
Oyinlola (Osun). Some of them came with their wives. Minister of Information
Communication and Technology, Mrs Mobolaji Johnson, who hails from Ondo State,
Agagu’s former deputy Omolade Oluwateru, Speaker of the Ondo State House of
Assembly during Agagu’s tenure, Taofeek Abdulsalam and businessman Jimoh
Ibrahim, were among the other dignitaries in attendance. Agagu’s widow and
other children were at the event though the late exgovernor’s eldest child,
Feyi, is still hospitalised in Lagos as a result of the injuries he sustained
in the crash. The church service preceding the burial billed to start at 10.am
did not commence until 1.50pm. The body of the ex-governor, who was also a
minister in the power and Aviation ministries, rescued from the wrecked plane
intact, did not arrive the church on time. From as early as 9.00am, dignitaries
were waiting at the residence of the deceased for the arrival of the body. The
Saint Paul’s Anglican Church was filed up with guests who came to honour theman
who died on September 13. His corpse however remained intact, his son and four
others survived the crash while others including the commissioner for Culture
and Tourism Mr. Deji Falae, died. However, scores of party members , supporters
and other members of the community were at the residence of the late former
governor waiting for his remains to arrive as early as 9: am. The issue of the
crashed plane dominated discussions at the burial The body was laid to l rest
in a purple casket substituted for the casket that was partly damaged in the
crash. In his sermon, Bishop on the Coast,( Anglican communion) Joshua
Ebunoluwa Ogunele, said the gathering was not only meant to commit Agagu to the
mother earth but also to praise God. Bishop Ogunele said the late governor’s
widow’s decision to travel from Ibadan to Akure by road “changed many things.”
He said her decision not to join the aircraft that was conveying the remains of
the body of the late former governor was praise worthy and commendable. The
cleric described the late Agagu as a father, a brother and a friend.
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