By Desire Emmanuel
Foremost Lagos businessman and industrialist, Otunba Kunle Ojora, is dead. He was aged 93.
His daughter and wife of the former Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki, announced the death of her father in a statement on Wednesday, January 28, saying he died on Wednesday morning.
She wrote: “With total submission to the will of Almighty Allah, the Ojora family of Lagos hereby announces the passing of our beloved patriarch, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, the Olori Omo Oba of Lagos, who returned to his creator early this morning.
“We say Alhamdulilahi for a life well lived, and we comply with Allah’s words that: Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him we will all return.
“He was 93 and will be buried in Lagos according to Islamic rites. He was survived by his lovely wife, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
“We urge all members of the public to join us in praying to Allah to grant His servant, who has lived a dignified life, reprieve in the grave and a place in Aljannah Firdaus.”
Otunba Ojora was born on June 13, 1932, in Lagos State. He’s a member of the Ojora and Adele royal families of Lagos and holds the chieftaincy title of Otunba of Lagos, which he acquired in 1979. Ojora is also the Lisa of Ife, a title he received in 1981.
He started his career as a journalist with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the early 1950s and later joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. Ojora transitioned into business, becoming an executive director of UAC in 1962, and went on to invest in various foreign firms in Nigeria, including AGIP petroleum marketing and NCR Nigeria.
Ojora received several honours, including an honorary doctorate from Central State University, Ohio, USA, in 1992, and the Nigerian national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), in 1982.
