Alex Akinyele, a former Nigerian information minister and sports manager, has died. He was aged 81.
A statement by one of his sons, Constantine Akinfolarin Akinyele, confirmed that he passed away Thursday after a brief illness.
Akinyele, an Ondo Chief, was a former president of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and former chairman of the Nigerian Sports Commission.
Details of Mr Akinyele’s cause of death were not immediately disclosed, but it was believed to have occurred in his home Ondo State.
Mr Akinyele served as information minister under Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s military ruler between 1985 and 1993.
It was also during Mr Babangida’s tenure that Mr Akinyele led the Nigerian Sports Commission.
Mr Akinyele, whose father served in World War II as a member of the elite West African Frontier Force, also had deep professional roots in public relations. He chaired the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations for many years.
He was born in Ondo State on April 24, 1938 and attended his primary and secondary education there.
