The former Governor of old Western Region of Nigeria, General Adeyinka Adebayo, who would have clocked 89 years old on Thursday, has died today.

Born March 9, 1928, Adebayo was the former governor of the now defunct Western State of Nigeria between 1966 and 1971. He took over from Col. Francis Adekunle Fajuyi after his death in the 1966 coup d’état.

Adebayo was the son of a Public Works employee from Iyin Ekiti, near Ado Ekiti, (present day Ekiti State), Nigeria.

He had his primary education at All Saints School, Iyin-Ekiti, and later attended Eko Boys High School and Christ’s School Ado Ekiti.

Thereafter, he joined the West African Frontier Force in 1948 as a regiment signaler and later completed the Officer Cadet Training Course in Teshie, Ghana from 1950 to 1952.

It was after passing the War Office Examination for Commonwealth cadets in 1952 and the West African qualifying examination in 1953, that he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) as the 23rd West African military officer with number WA23.

After completing the War Office Cadet Training in Eaton Hall, England, he was commissioned 7th Nigerian military officer with number N7.

Later, he attended the Staff College course in Camberley (Surrey) in 1960 and the prestigious Imperial Defence College, London in late 1965 where he was the only African officer.