Ex-CBN chief Mr Mailafia was a frontline critic of President Muhammadu Buhari and security agencies for their handling of the country’s security.
Obadiah Mailafia, a Nigerian economist who served as deputy governor of Nigeria’s central bank, has died, Hotmedia.ng learnt.
Mr Mailafia, 64, died on Sunday morning at the National Hospital, Abuja. He was certified dead by a medical doctor at the nation’s foremost public health facility, Hotmedia.ng learnt.
Dr Mailafia contested the 2019 presidential election under the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
He worked at the African Development Bank (AFDB) and served as CBN deputy governor between 2005 and 2007.
Read Also : Beyond Aboki FX: The Ifekaego Foreign Exchange Tutorial – By Kingsley Moghalu
Born on December 24, 1956 in Randa village, Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State, his father Baba Mailafia Gambo Galadima, an evangelist with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Central Nigeria.
Mailafia was raised as a missionary child in a multiracial environment.
His parents later transferred to Murya, Lafia, in Nasarawa State, where he grew up.
He started his education at Musha Sudan United Mission School from 1964 to 1969 and proceeded to Mada Hills Secondary School, Akwanga, Nasarawa, from 1970 to 1974.
He later proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he bagged a first-class degree in Economics.
Although he had made his mark as a technocrat, Mailafia became very famous in the country after he granted an interview where he said he was informed that a governor was the commander of Boko Haram.
Read Also : 2023: Heavy Crisis Set To Hit PDP, As Governors Split Over zoning
He spent the latter part of his years advocating for a solution to the protracted killings in Southern Kaduna, which had been linked to armed herdsmen of Fulani origin.
He became a frontline critic of President Muhammadu Buhari and security agencies as part of his advocacy and was recently invited by the State Security Service to explain some of his on-air comments about deliberate violence across the country.
Mailafia had during a radio programme alleged that repentant Boko Haram members had revealed to him that a serving Northern governor was a commander of the terrorist group. He started criticizing Buhari government on the failure to handle security challenges in the country.
Some Of Mailafia Critics On Buhari And Security Services
– Early in the month of September, he described the alleged fulanisation of Nigeria as real, just as he disclosed that there was an ongoing plot by Buhari’s administration to foist a Fulani and Islamic agenda on Nigerians.
– Speaking in Akure during a special session organised by Forum for Good Governance Towards Revival for All Nations (TRANS 21) with the theme “The Role of the Church in Nation Building”, Mailafia alleged that the present administration in Nigeria was pushing for the Islamisation and Fulanisation of the country.
– Mailafia has said, “The kind of Islam that is coming from Sahara is dangerous. They want to take over your land and enslave you. Christians must rise to protect it. They want to take over your land and enslave you.
– “In the North East alone, more than 3000 churches have been destroyed, more than 400 priests and pastors have been killed. Last year, the CAN chairman of Adamawa was beheaded, even after a ransom was paid. We have been told that the so call bandits, who should not be called bandits because bandits do not bring down military aircraft.
– “No bandit has the capacity to bring down military aircraft. No bandit has the power to attack Nigeria Defence Academy which is the premier institution for the training of armed forces. No bandit has the capacity to do that, only terrorists have the capacity to do that.
“We are being told that this terrorists are part of the insurgency because they did these kidnappings to raise money in order to fund the insurgency.”
