Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has mourned the demise of Late Oladipo Diya, describing him as a courageous and daring man.

Abiodun commiserated with the government and people of Nigeria, the military, and friends and associates of the then Chief of General Staff, late General Danni Abacha.

Abiodun said Lt. General Diya was a soldier-statesman who would have clocked 79 on April 3.

Diya, according to Abiodun, was a military governor in Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985 under the Buhari/Idiagbon military junta.

In a statement by Kunle Somorin, the governor’s COO Chief of Staff, Abiodun stated that Diya was a seasoned administrator, gentleman, and officer, whose contributions to the development of the security architecture of Nigeria would remain indelible.

“He was courageous and daring, quick-witted and patriotic." Gen. Diya played frontline roles in the evolution and development of the state, and his activities in the military, in part, led to the eventual return and enthronement of democracy in the country in 1999,” Abiodun said.

He urged his family members in the Odogbolu area of Ogun East to take solace in the fact that the statesman played the parts assigned to him by Providence diligently and patriotically meritoriously.

While asking God to grant Diya’s soul eternal rest, Abiodun enjoined Nigerians to emulate the good virtues he left behind.