Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the teacher turned politician who spent his life defending the ideals of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, died on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. He was 100. Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa announced the death.
From Village Boy to Schoolmaster
Fasoranti was born on May 11, 1926, in Uso, a small community in the Owo area of today’s Ondo State. He once described himself simply as a “village boy”.
He attended Ondo Boys’ High School, Yaba Higher College in Lagos and University College, Ibadan, where he read English and Geography. He later earned a postgraduate qualification in education at the University of Hull in Britain. He also holds a master’s degree in education administration and school management from Macquarie University in Australia.
Teaching became his life’s work. In 1957, he became the founding principal of Anglican Grammar School, Iju-Itaogbolu. The school opened with 30 pupils. He spent 14 years building it and lived in an abandoned house in the bush in the early days.
He also founded private schools, including Omolere Nursery and Primary School and Akure High School. His wife co-founded them with him.
Following Awolowo
Fasoranti’s political life began at Iju-Itaogbolu, where Awolowo came to campaign. He told Vanguard in 2011 that he was fascinated and chose to become a disciple. He joined the Action Group and later the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
His Akure home became a meeting place for Awolowo and his associates, including Michael Ajasin. When the UPN won Ondo State in 1979, Ajasin named him commissioner for finance. The government pursued free education, health care, jobs and rural development.
The policy cost him personally. The state took over private schools, including his Akure High School. He accepted the takeover without compensation. He stayed in office until the military coup of December 1983.
The Fight for Democracy
After the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Fasoranti joined Yoruba leaders and activists opposing military rule. He became associated with the National Democratic Coalition, formed in 1994. Accounts of his life also recall an assassination attempt during the Sani Abacha regime.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu paid tribute on Tuesday. He called Fasoranti a respected statesman whose work in education, leadership and public service left a lasting mark.
Personal Losses
His wife died in 1991, and he never remarried. Asked about it in 2022, he said it “wouldn’t be the same again”. After her death, he set up St Frances’ Academy in Igoba, Akure, in her memory.
In July 2019, gunmen shot dead his daughter, Funke Olakunrin, on the Ore road in Ondo State. She was 58. Three men were sentenced to death for the murder in 2022.
Leading a Divided Afenifere
Fasoranti became one of Afenifere’s principal leaders after Pa Abraham Adesanya died in 2008. In March 2021, he stepped back from day-to-day leadership because of his age. Adebanjo became acting leader.
The group split ahead of the 2023 election. Adebanjo’s camp backed Labour Party candidate Peter Obi. Fasoranti received Bola Tinubu at his Akure home on October 30, 2022, and endorsed him. He insisted he remained Afenifere’s leader.
In August 2023, he lamented a “noticeable drift” from the group’s core values of consultation and brotherliness. Attempts at reconciliation failed. Adebanjo died in February 2025, aged 96. Fasoranti called him a comrade-in-arms of 70 years.
On September 29, 2026, an Afenifere caucus met at his residence and endorsed Tinubu for a second term in 2027.
A Legacy in Education and Service
Fasoranti outlived Awolowo by nearly four decades. His life ran from colonial rule through independence, military dictatorships and the return to civilian government. He summed up his creed as freedom for all, education for all, jobs, rural development and health for everybody.
