Alhaji Mubashiru Abiola, the younger brother of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, is dead.
Mubashiru was 73.
Mubashiru, who was popularly called “Uncle Bashy”, died about 9:30pm on Friday at his Gaa Sabo residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
His remains were buried on Saturday at 4pm, according to Islamic rites.
Family sources said Mubashiru had been ill for about three months before he eventually passed on Friday night.
Many sympathisers besieged the residence of the deceased to bid farewell.
Dignitaries that attended the burial included former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Sarafa Isola; the General Manager of Ogun State Television, Alhaji Ayinde Soaga; his elder brother, Yaya Soaga; and a House of Representatives member, Mikahil Kazzim.
The former Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of defunct Concord Newspaper, Dr. Doyin Abiola, led other members of the Abiola family, including Lola Abiola-Edewor, Lekan Abiola and Jamiu Abiola, to the funeral.
The Chief Imam of Gbagura, Prof. Kamaldeen Balogun, who conducted the funeral for the late Abiola, said death is inevitable for all mortals.
Balogun urged people, irrespective of their religion and social background, to live their lives as if they would die tomorrow.
He said: “Death is inevitable for all souls.
“Whether you are rich or poor, you must die one day and leave all those earthly things for others who will also die later.”
A relative of the deceased, Engineer Rahmon Abiola, said Mubashiru was born on February 14, 1942 and that his illness and eventual death was a result of old age.
One of MKO Abiola’s children, Lekan, said the vacuum created by the death of Mubashiru would be difficult to fill.
Lekan said: “Right now, I don’t think we have anybody else in the family that can take his position at this point in time.
“It is going to take a while before we can figure out any other person who has the charisma to carry on from where he stopped.”
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