Ekundayo Opaleye Explained

Ekundayo B. Opaleye
Honorific Prefix:Major General
Term Start1:26 August 1986
Term End1:17 December 1987
Predecessor1:Michael Okhai Akhigbe
Successor1:Raji Alagbe Rasaki
Birth Date:7 April 1946
Death Place:Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
Rank: Major General

Ekundayo B. Opaleye (7 April 1946 – 18 November 2023) was a Nigerian general and politician who was Governor of Ondo State, from August 1986 to December 1987, during the military regime of general Ibrahim Babangida.[1]

Military career

Colonel Opaleye was a member of a Special Military Tribunal set up in 1986 to try officers accused of plotting a coup against Babangida in December 1985.[2] In August 1986 he was appointed governor of Ondo State, holding office until December 1987.[1] General Opaleye was appointed commander of the OAU Neutral Military Organization Group (NMOG) set up in 1991 to enforce a cease fire between the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and the Hutu-dominated Rwandan government. NMOG had the limited mandate of creating a buffer zone between the rebels and the government troops.[3] In 1993 NMOG was integrated into the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).[4] Major-general Opaleye played a big role in the conclusion of the ARUSHA talks that let to the Peace Agreement signed on 4 August 1993.

Later career

After retiring from the army, Opaleye was made an Owu Erunmu chief (Balogun Erunmu – Erunmu Owu's highest ranking war chieftain) by the Oluroko of Erunmu Owu, Honourable Chief Aremu Olugbolahan Ijaola. This made him a traditional war chief in Erunmu, and by extension, a secondary cabinet member in the Owu Kingdom.[5] He was involved in controversy when the Owu monarch, Oba Adegboyega Dosumu, appointed sixteen new Obas, whom the Ogun State government refused to recognize. In October 2009 Opaleye said the Owu Kingdom would not reverse the appointments since they were not contrary to any laws.[6]

Personal life and death

Ekundayo B. Opaleye was born on 7 April 1946.[7] [8] He died from a heart attack on 18 November 2023, at the age of 77.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nigerian States . WorldStatesmen . 7 May 2010.
  2. Web site: Vasta's Case: A Miscarriage of Justice . Max Siollun . Max Siollun . New Nigerian Politics . 7 May 2010 .
  3. Web site: The Case of Rwanda . Gilbert M. Khadiagala . Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland . 7 May 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100531200444/http://www.cissm.umd.edu/papers/files/rwanda.pdf . 31 May 2010 . dead .
  4. Book: 71 . Military intervention: cases in context for the twenty-first century . William J. Lahneman . Rowman & Littlefield . 2004 . 0-7425-2951-7.
  5. Web site: Cabinet Members . Owu Kingdom . 7 May 2010 .
  6. Web site: Ogun threatens to arrest 'illegal' monarchs . https://archive.today/20120305011637/http://odili.net/news/source/2009/oct/7/9.html . dead . 5 March 2012. The Guardian . 7 October 2009. Charles Coffie Gyamfi . 7 May 2010.
  7. Book: Profiles of Members of the Executive Council . 1987 . Ministry of Information, Youth, and Social Welfare . 7 . 19 November 2023.
  8. Web site: O . Rulers . 19 November 2023.
  9. News: Ex-military gov of Ondo Ekundayo Opaleye dies in Abeokuta . 19 November 2023 . QED . 18 November 2023.

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