Prominent Nigerian businessman and former presidential aspirant, Chief Harry Ayoade Akande, is dead. He was aged 77.
A statement issued by his son, Mr. Olumide Akande, on behalf of the family said he died in the early hours of Saturday following a brief illness.
”In the early hours of Saturday, December 5, 2020, our patriarch Chief Harry Ayodele Akande passed away following a brief illness,” the statement read.
”Chief Harry Akande was an astute businessman of international repute whose legacy and influence cut across continents.
”But by far his greatest passion was for a better Nigeria that guaranteed equity and justice for all. It is our fervent hope that this will be a reality in the not too distant future.
”His passing is a huge shock to his immediate & extended family, friends & associates. We are all grappling to make some sense of it.
”As we seek the repose of his gentle soul, we ask you to in turn to uphold us in your prayers while we pass through this very turbulent period of our lives occasioned by the loss of someone as dear as him.”
Akande, who held the chieftaincy title of Agba Oye of Ibadanland, was born on March 3, 1943. He attended the Olivet Heights in Ibadan for his secondary education, before proceeding to the United States where he bagged his BSc in Accounts and Finance at Hampton University in 1967, and his MBA at the Northwestern University, Kellogg’s School of Management
Akande was one of the founding fathers of the then All Peoples Party (APP) which was the second largest political party at the beginning of the present democratic dispensation. He served as Chairman of the APP Board of Trustees.
Akande later ran for President on the platform of ANPP.
