The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress of Nigeria (ACPN), Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has commiserated with the family of the late Prof. Sophie Oluwole over her demise.
Her condolence message was contained in a press statement on Tuesday.
Ezekwesili described the deceased as an academic whose contribution to education in Nigeria would be continuously cherished.
She expressed concern that the professor died when her contributions were mostly needed in the country.
The leading presidential candidate urged other academics to emulate the late Oluwole, saying that “she is an academic icon.”
She was a trail blazing academic for whom I would continue to have huge affection for, especially in her candour and quest for distinction. She was ever so generous to me when I became the Minister of Education and her strong support for educational development never went unnoticed, Ezekwesili added.
“Nigeria has indeed lost a great academic at a time when our educational system is facing a serious challenge. Her death is saddening and a great loss to the intelligentsia community. I commiserate with members of her family and pray that God gives them the fortitude to bear her loss.”
Oluwole passed on at the age of 83.
Born in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State, in 1935, Oluwole studied History, Geography and Philosophy at the University of Lagos, after which she worked briefly as an assistant lecturer in 1972.
The deceased bagged her doctorate degree in the field of Philosophy in 1984 and was the first Nigerian woman to do so.
The deceased was a foremost Yoruba philosophical thinker and author whose work was influenced largely by African and western trade-religious beliefs.
