All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians to be kind to the late Senator Buruji Kashamu, whose death he described as shocking and a big loss to the Nigerian political family.
Mr Kashamu, who represented Ogun East in the Senate from 2015 to 2019, died of complication linked to coronavirus on Saturday.
He was buried according to Islamic rites in his Ijebu-Igbo hometown, Ogun State on Sunday.
The 62-year-old was a frontline member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had in a condolence letter said the deceased, who is wanted in the US, escaped justice on earth but could not beat death.
“Senator Esho Jinadu (Buruji Kashmu) in his lifetime used the maneuver of law and politics to escape from facing justice on alleged criminal offence in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.
“But no legal, political, cultural, social or even medical maneuver could stop the cold hands of death when the Creator of all of us decides that the time is up,” Obasanjo wrote.
But in n a message personally signed by him and made available to the media on Sunday, Mr Tinubu spoke kindly of the dead.
Although they belong to different political parties, the former Lagos State governor said Kashamu “was a notable leader in the country and a true grassroots politician” who “fought for his convictions, for the people of Ogun State and for his country.”
According to Tinubu: “Senator Kashamu was also a good party man. He was unwavering in his support for his party, PDP, through all the twists and turns of his political life. His passing is a big loss to the larger political family in Nigeria.
“He worked assiduously to advance the political and economic fortunes of his state. Kashamu represented, with merit, Ogun East in the 8th National Assembly and worked well for his constituents. He was a kind and generous man, a philanthropist in his own right and an astute businessman.
“I admire his political doggedness and sagacity, and his steadfastness in pursuing whatever he believes in, though we were never in the same political party.”
Recalling the Kashamu died of coronavirus, Tinubu said the former’s sudden death “has demonstrated the transience of human life and rekindles the fact that death is inevitable for every mortal.
“As such, it behooves on us to be kind to the dead.”
Praying to Kashamu’s family, “particularly his wives, children and grandchildren,” Tinubu also offered “condolences to Governor Dapo Abiodun, the government and people of Ogun State over the demise this important son of the soil.”
