Jimi Agbaje, Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate has described the death of Dr. Fredrick Fasehun as most unfortunate. He was speaking to journalists after he formally declared his intention to run for the governorship on Saturday in Lagos.
“Fredrick Faseun’s death is most unfortunate. Dr. Fasheun, many people will not realise, is also an accomplished medical practitioner. But I think he was better known for the struggle for emancipation. He was very well known in the days of the struggle against the military dictatorship,” Agbaje said.
He added that the first leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), was a respected leader in Yoruba land. “His death is unfortunate but I think he has paid his dues, left his legacy. And it is for those that have been left behind to continue. We can only wish that his soul rest in peace”.
The OPC chieftain was reportedly aged 83 when he died at about 1am on Saturday at the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. His spokesperson, Mr. Adeoye Jolaosho, said Fasehun had taken ill on Wednesday and was rushed to the ICU of LASUTH.
Fasehun was an active member of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) during the days of military rule in Nigeria.
Born on September 25, 1938 in Ondo, Ondo State, he began his education late, entering primary school at the age of 13 at Saint Matthews Roman Catholic School, Ondo. He later moved to Saint Peter’s Teacher’s Training College, Akure, also in Ondo state. But he was expelled from school, because of his non-conformity with Catholicism. Fasehun was then admitted to Ondo Boys High School, where he completed his secondary education in less than three years, with a Grade One distinction. His brother offered him a scholarship to study science at Blackburn College in the UK. He furthered his education at Aberdeen University College of Medicine. He also studied at the Liverpool Postgraduate School after which he had a Fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons.
In 1976, he studied acupuncture in China under a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Development Scholarship Programme. On his return in 1977, he set up an Acupuncture Unit at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He resigned in 1978 and immediately set up the Besthope Hospital and Acupuncture Centre in Lagos. His Acupuncture Centre once earned a reputation as Africa’s first for the Chinese medical practice.