Pa Reuben Fasoranti is dead. The Afenifere leader died on Tuesday evening at his home in Ijapo, Akure. He was 100. The news was confirmed in tributes on Wednesday, including from former Ondo Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the Conscience of Yoruba Nation Group.
Fasoranti was one of the last direct links to the Awolowo political tradition. He served as Commissioner for Finance in the old Ondo State under Michael Adekunle Ajasin in the Second Republic. He was a founding member of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political organisation that emerged from the National Democratic Coalition era. He took over its leadership after Abraham Adesanya. The group became a platform for federalism, social justice and democratic accountability. He remained active into his tenth decade, even after his daughter was killed on her farm in 2020. He did not retreat from public life. That resilience defined him.
Mimiko described Fasoranti’s death as the end of an extraordinary chapter. In a tribute titled “Pa Reuben Fasoranti: A Century of Principle, Service and Conviction”, he called him a custodian of a political tradition and a devoted disciple of Obafemi Awolowo. He said Fasoranti never allowed personal ambition or greed to mark his leadership. He noted that he soldiered on with uncommon stoicism despite personal tragedies.
The Conscience of Yoruba Nation Group, through its convener Abagun Kole Omololu, called his death a profound loss. It described him as a steadfast adherent of Awoism and one of its most committed custodians. It said his integrity contrasted with a political culture where principles are sacrificed for expediency.
Winners: Those who carry the Awoist tradition, who gain a legacy to defend. Mimiko, who gains a platform. Younger Yoruba politicians, who can claim his mantle. Losers: Afenifere, which loses its leader and must manage succession. The Yoruba political family, which loses its most senior voice. The country, which loses an institutional memory of the Second Republic. A political culture that will miss his example.
Bottom Line: A century of principle ended. Fasoranti leaves a movement without him. Afenifere’s next leader will inherit a legacy and a test. The most fitting tribute is to uphold the principles he cherished.