Ogun’s First Civilian Governor’s Wife, Lucia Onabanjo, Dies At 100

Madam Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo, wife of the first elected governor of Ogun State, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, has passed away at the age of 100.

The family announced her death in a statement issued on Tuesday by her daughter, Olubukunola Onabanjo, noting that the centenarian died peacefully on Monday.

Describing her as the matriarch of the Onabanjo family, the statement said Chief (Mrs.) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo, born in 1925, was “called to glory” on Monday, January 11.

“The family of Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, announces with deep sorrow, yet with gratitude to Almighty God, the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother,” the statement read.

It added, “We thank God for her long and fulfilled life, and for the enduring legacy of love, strength, and faith she leaves behind. May her soul rest in perfect peace.”

Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, her husband, served as Ogun State’s first civilian governor in the aborted Second Republic between 1979 and 1983. He was also a respected journalist and columnist, widely known for his influential weekly column, ‘Ayekooto’, before his death in 1990.