Alex Akinyele, a former Nigerian information minister and sports manager, has died.
Mr Akinyele passed on between late Thursday night and early Friday morning, one of his sons, Akinfolarin announced in a statement. He was 81.
Details of Mr Akinyele’s cause of death were not immediately disclosed, but it was believed to have occurred in his home Ondo State.
A spokesperson for the state government did not immediately return requests seeking comments.
Mr Akinyele served as information minister under Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s military ruler between 1985 and 1993.
It was also during Mr Babangida’s tenure that Mr Akinyele led the Nigerian Sports Commission.
Mr Akinyele, whose father served in World War II as a member of the elite West African Frontier Force, also had deep professional roots in public relations. He chaired the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations for many years.
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 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.”
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