Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere spokesman, dies of COVID-19 complications

Yinka Odumakin, the national publicity secretary of Afenifere, is dead.

He died of COVID-19 complications at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

Joe Okei-Odumakin, his wife, confirmed his death on Saturday.

TheCable understands that he had been sick with COVID-19 for some time but had “underlying issues”.

Despite testing negative after treatment, he did not recover from the complications.

The deceased was a human rights activist who played a vital role in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought the Sani Abacha regime after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

He was a critic of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was an advocate of restructuring and often said it is the only way to avoid disintegration.

Towards the end of 2020, he released a statement on behalf of Afenifere, saying Nigeria was on the brink of collapse.

The statement came in the wake of the spate of insecurity in the country and the fallout of the #EndSARS protests.

Odumakin had noted that Nigeria “had virtually become ungovernable and unless it is restructured and restored to federalism, it will collapse”.

He was the spokesman of Afenifere for over two decades, coordinating the publicity and public relations activities of the group.