Ex-minister Alex Akinyele Dies At 81

Former Nigerian information minister and sports manager, Alex Akinyele, has died at the age of 81.

Mr. Akinyele passed on between late Thursday night and early Friday morning, the Nigerian Tribune reported one of his sons, Akinfolarin, as announcing in a statement.

Details of his cause of death were not immediately disclosed, but it was believed to have occurred in his home Ondo State.

Akinyele served as information minister under Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s military ruler between 1985 and 1993.

It was also during Babangida’s tenure that Akinyele led the Nigerian Sports Commission.

He was born in Ondo State on April 24, 1938, and attended his primary and secondary education there.

Tributes have been pouring in from some of those who knew him, including from journalist Aliu Olurotimi, a former editor at Daily Times who described the deceased in a Facebook post as a “super orator, mentor, and friend for all seasons.”