Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari has described the late Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, as a pillar and mentor who had supported her struggle towards improving the lives of women and children in Nigeria.
She made the statement through Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr. Hajo Sani, at a condolence visit to the Nigeria office of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), on Wednesday.
Mrs Buhari, according to a statement by her media aide Suleiman Haruna, said the late Professor, who was the Executive Director of UNFPA and an Under Secretary General at the UN, “played a key role in the emergence of her Future Assured Programme due to his interest in the upliftment of the health standard of the weaker cohort of the society. He will be missed.”
In her response, the Country Director of UNFPA, Dr. Diene Keita, expressed her appreciation for the visit and said Prof. Osotimehin had touched and saved lives all over the world and was not only seen as a Nigerian but a world citizen.
She said as the boss of UNFPA, she and her fellow staff would retain countless positive memories of him.
The late Prof. Osotimehin was a former Minister of Health and Director General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).
