Nigeria mourns as Head of Interim Nat’l Govt, Ernest Shonekan, dies at 85

Former head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, has died at the age of 85, according to a press statement from his family.

Shonekan who was foisted on Nigerians by then military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, died on Tuesday at a private hospital in the Lekki area of Lagos State after a battle with an undisclosed ailment.

Shonekan had a short lived tenure as interim head of state from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993, when he was overthrown by the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha in a palace coup.

Meanwhile, encomiums have poured in over the virtues of the deceased Head of State with a former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba recalling how Shonekan made his mark in the private sector and the public sector.

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Osoba said: “One of the giants of the private sector is gone, he made his mark as a corporate guru in the then UAC where he rose to be the chairman and Chief executive. May God bless his soul.”

Also, a former member of the National Assembly, Ben Bruce noted how special Shonekan was to his family.

“In 1964, he was the lawyer at UAC that gave my father Domino Stores. As Chairman of UAC, I would visit him, and he will tell me the challenges he faced that made him decide to close Kingsway Stores. Great man. We will miss him dearly,” the media mogul tweeted.

Shonekan assumed office on January 2, 1993, as head of the transitional council under General Babangida but when Babangida resigned from office in August 1993, following the annulment of the 12 June presidential election, he faced a lot of opposition, especially from the military.

Three months into his administration, Shonekan was overthrown by Abacha in November 1993.

In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.