Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Sunday Afolabi () (1931 – 10 May 2004) is a Nigerian politician who served in the Cabinet of President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

as Minister of Internal Affairs.

Background

Sunday Afolabi was born in Iree,

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...

, of

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

origin. His traditional titles are Oloye Bada of Ile-Ife and Oloye Asiwaju Apesin of

Oshogbo Osogbo (also ''Oṣogbo'', rarely ''Oshogbo'') is a city in Nigeria. It became the capital city of Osun State in 1991. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area (situated at Oke Baale Area of the city) and Olorund ...

., Afolabi attended Offa Grammar School in Kwara State (1948–1950) and Baptist Boys High School,

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding are ...

(1951–1953). He became an Accounts Clerk at United African Company (1953–1954), then worked at Bank of British West Africa, later called Standard Bank and now

First Bank of Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria Limited is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company in Lagos, Nigeria. It is the premier bank in West Africa. The First Bank of Nigeria Limited operates as a parent company, with the subsidiaries 'FBN Ba ...

(1954–1961). He was Chief Accountant at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

(1961–1978).

Early political career

Afolabi became a member and leader of the Action Group, Osun Division. In the

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...

(1979–1983) Afolabi was a member of Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Om ...

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978-1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politician ...

(UPN). He served as deputy governor of

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the east by Osun ...

when

Bola Ige Chief James Ajibola Idowu Ige , ( yo, Bọ́lá Ìgè; 13 September 1930 – 23 December 2001), simply known as Bola Ige, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He served as Federal Minister of Justice of Nigeria from January 2000 till his assa ...

was governor. Later he moved over to the

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigerian ...

(NPN), and became Minister of Education in the

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

government. Afolabi was a member of the defunct

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in the lead-up to the abortive

Nigerian Third Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi B ...

(1989–1993), and the Peoples Democratic Movement led by

Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (5 March 1943 – 8 December 1997) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who was the ''de facto'' vice president of Nigeria as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters when Nigeria was under military rule from 1976 to ...

. He became a member of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) in 1998 in the lead up to the

Nigerian Fourth Republic The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...

Fourth Republic

Afolabi backed

's successful bid for presidency in 1999. He was appointed Minister of the Interior in June 1999. He said he did not beg to serve in the government, but the president voluntarily asked "me to pick any ministry of my choice". However, his appointment may have been because he was one of the few Yoruba supporters of Obasanjo. He worked with Bola Ige to create the pro-Obasanjo Yoruba Council of Elders to support Obasanjo's bid for reelection in 2003. As Minister of Interior, Afolabi reported that the government allocated NGN2.4 billion for prison reforms in 2001. He was strong proponent of the National Identity Card project, to be used for the 2003 Federal and State elections. The

Independent Corrupt Practices Commission The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), (in full the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) is a Nigerian agency that was inaugurated on 29 September 2000 following the recommendation of President Oluseg ...

(ICPC) arrested Afolabi on 5 December 2003 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In December 2003 Afolabi stood trial along with his successor as Internal Affairs minister

Mohammed Shata Mohammed Shata is a Nigerian politician who served in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003. Obasanjo cabinet In July 1999 the Senate cleared the appointment by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Shata as Minister of Nati ...

, former Labour Minister Hussain Akwanga and others on charges that they had sought bribes worth some $2m from the French firm, Sagem in connection with the $214m contract to produce identity cards. He and the other accused were granted bail on 31 December 2003. Afolabi died of a kidney related illness in London in May 2004 at the age of 73. In June 2004, the court dropped all charges against him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afolabi, Sunday 2004 deaths Yoruba politicians People from Osun State Unity Party of Nigeria politicians National Party of Nigeria politicians Social Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians Education ministers of Nigeria Federal ministers of Nigeria 1931 births