The Executive Director of the United Nations Populations
Fund, UNFPA, Babatunde Osotimehin, passed on while watching television alone in
his home in New York on Sunday.
A family member of the late professor of medicine, who was
around about the time of Osotimehin’s death in his New York home, mentioned
meeting the UN bureaucrat unresponsive before the TV set he had been watching
on his return from church on Sunday. It was only after he had tried
communicating with him in vain, and had also sought to nudge him awake to no
response, that it dawned on him that the former minister had passed on.
The 68-year-old is suspected to have died of cardiac arrest,
even though this is yet to be confirmed.
The family members spoken to said the funeral rites of the
late professor would be announced at a later date.
Before he became health minister, Mr. Osotimehin was the Director General of the National Agency for Control of AIDS and was also a former Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.
Before he became health minister, Mr. Osotimehin was the Director General of the National Agency for Control of AIDS and was also a former Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.
He became the Executive Director of UNFPA on November 19,
2010 to serve a four-year term and was re-appointed on August 21, 2014.
Born on February 6, 1949, Mr. Osotimehin attended Igbobi
College between 1966 and 1971.
After his medical studies at the University of Ibadan, he
received a doctorate in medicine from the University of Birmingham, United
Kingdom, in 1979.
Mr. Osotimehin, throughout his professional career, had
consistently advanced the cause of youth and gender, within the context of
reproductive health and rights.
In its reaction to his death, the Kaduna State government through its Ministry of Budget tweeted: “We commiserate with the family of former Nigerian Minister of Health & Head of UNFPA, Babatunde Osotimehin, a friend of KDSG who died today.”
The condolence was also retweeted by the Kaduna State
Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com