Adegboyega Dosunmu, the Olowu of Owu in Abeokuta, Ogun State, is dead, the state government announced on Tuesday night.
The monarch passed away on Sunday after a brief illness, the government said in a statement.
It was learnt that the traditional ruler was rushed to the hospital on Sunday, and he died shortly after.
He was 80.
On Monday, there was a graveyard silence at the palace when our reporter visited. Nobody was willing to speak about his demise.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Afolabi Afuwape, announced the death.
The commissioner said the deceased, a veteran TV producer, ascended the throne in 2005 as the 13th Olowu after Adewale Adisa Odeleye, Lagbedu 1 who passed away in 2003.
Governor Dapo Abiodun expressed shock over the death of the monarch, according to a statement by his chief press secretary, Kunle Somorin.
The governor prayed that “God Almighty grants Kabiyesi’s soul eternal repose, and the people he left behind the fortitude to bear this loss.”
The monarch was said to be a close ally of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He had been a civil servant, broadcaster and politician.
He attended King’s College in Lagos state in 1956 and was later admitted into Hendon College of Technology in London to study Drama and Television Production in 1963.
He also attended Landmark Baptist College, Tennessee, the U.S. in 1987 where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Theology.
He worked at the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Ebute Metta, Lagos State. He later joined a broadcasting organisation where he rose to the position of Head of Drama Department.
After he exited the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1975, he proceeded to establish a private film production outfit, Starline Films Limited.
Dosumu was a devoted Christian, who preached to his aides and palace workers on weekly basis, about good behaviours and Jesus Christ to them.
At different times during his lifetime, Dosunmi had said he did not partake in any ritual before and during his reign as king.
Via Premium Times.
