Reports hit the newswire that the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Obadiah Mailafia, had died.
It was said that he died after a brief battle with an undisclosed illness. He was 64.
He came to national prominence when he declared his knowledge of a sponsor of the terrorist sect, Boko Haram, disclosing that the commander of the insurgent group was a governor.
His declaration led to his being invited by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Mailafia passed at the National Hospital Abuja.
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Life and Career
His career trail began as a government and economics teacher at an Anglican school in Ondo State, during his stint in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
He returned to his alma mater, the Ahmadu Bello University, as a graduate assistant in the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty.
Obadiah formed part of a team that constructed a special report on Local Government Reforms between 1982 and 1983.
He went on to become a chief economist at the Strategic Planning and Budgeting Department of the African Development Bank Group, leaving that position to serve as deputy governor of the CBN.
As deputy governor, he was tasked with the duty of overseeing monetary policy, economic policy, and research and statistics.
He was one of the champions that aided Nigeria’s exit from the list of indebted nations of the Paris Club group.
Mailafia was a presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential elections under the umbrella of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
