Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is presently a bereaved man following the death of his eldest son, Jide.
According to a member of the Tinubu family, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter, Jide suddenly collapsed and died from what was suspected to be a heart attack around 9 pm on Tuesday.
“However, after the incidence, close family members rushed him to a Lagos Island hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival,” the source told journalists in Lagos.
He added that the tragic news was kept secret because the father, Tinubu, was in Abuja for the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the APC.
Chairman of APC in Lagos, Otunba Henry Ajomale confirmed Jide’s death in a short statement he (Ajomale) issued on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday condoled with the APC leader over the death of Jide.
A statement by Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said the president “is deeply grieved to learn of the passing away of Jide Tinubu, eldest son of the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.”
The statement said Buhari, in a telephone call to Tinubu on behalf of the Federal Government and his family, offered his deepest condolences to the Tinubu family over the loss of Jide.
Describing the transition of Jide as “sad and painful,” the president said that the nation has been denied the services and potentials of the resourceful lawyer.
He prayed that God will grant the Tinubu family, friends and associates the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss, and comfort all who mourn the passage of the promising gentleman.
Also, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in a statement expressed shock and anguish over the death of Jide.
Atiku commiserated with the Tinubu family and counselled them not to lose faith in the will of Allah despite the oddity of the present pain and challenges.
He also called on men and women of goodwill, friends and associates to rally round Tinubu in prayers as they brave their moment of grief and loss of a family member.
Similarly, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said, “It’s never easy losing a child or any loved one. Indeed, it is hardest when they are taken from us too soon. Many who met the late Jide Tinubu, who was a lawyer, fondly described him as cerebral, industrious and full of life.
“In this moment of grief, the Party offers its sincere condolence and deepest sympathy to His Excellency and other immediate family members over the painful loss. May the outpouring of sympathy and the comfort in knowing that the late Jide’s death is felt by many, help the family through this difficult time.”
In the same vein, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said he was shocked to receive the sad news describing the late Jide as a lawyer of high repute who cut his teeth in the maritime sector and was hardworking and enterprising.
For Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, the sudden death of the APC national leader’s son was not only shocking but unfortunate and disheartening.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Yomi Layinka, the governor expressed regrets that the cold hands of death have snatched another promising and ebullient young man.
Jide, a law graduate of the University of Liverpool, England obtained a Masters degree in Maritime Law from the University of London and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1999.
The late lawyer had served as Promoter of TSL Limited and also worked in the Legal Department of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited from January 2000 to September 2001.
He had brief stints with Cargo Maritime in Paris, France, a firm of shipbrokers that specialised in petroleum product tankers, and Ocean and Oil Services Ltd.
