On Thursday, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, former Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachukwu, friends, and associates eulogised the late Kenneth Gbagi, who died on May 4.

Mr Gbagi, who was married to Justice Sybil Gbagi and father to nine children, died at 62 years after a brief illness.

At the ‘Night of Tributes’ in honour of the late Gbagi, a former Minister of Education, the trio, friends, and associates described the deceased as a detribalised and dogged gentleman.

Mr Oborevwori said Mr Gbagi was a patriot and an illustrious son of the Urhobo nation. He stated that the late astute industrialist and legal luminary was a pathfinder, a conscientious public servant and a politician of refute.

Mr Fayemi said, “Kenneth, as I call him, was a dependable and dogged politician. Once he calls you a friend, rest assured that he will fight your battle for you.

“He was instrumental to the establishment of a federal university and a federal college in Ekiti while I was the governor, and I will never forget him for that.”

For Mr Kachukwu, the deceased was God-fearing, bold, and a goal-getter.

“He lived for just 62 years but had achieved what would have taken him 100 years to achieve,” the former minister said.

Other associates and friends who graced the event described Mr Gbagi’s demise as a huge loss to the Urhobo nation, considering his contribution to politics, governance and the private sector.

Mr Gbagi, from Oginibu in Ughelli South LGA, was born on September 22, 1961.

He bagged Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminology at the Emmanuel L. Quezon University in the Philippines.

He returned to Nigeria, studied law at the University of Lagos, proceeded to the Nigeria Law School, Lagos campus, and was called to the bar upon graduation.

Rather than waiting for a white-collar job, Mr Gbagi ventured into business, established Geekos Security Nigeria Ltd, and served as its chairman.

This company provided the foundation for Mr Gbagi’s conglomerate, such as the GKO Properties Ltd, The Robinson Gbagi Shopping Mall 1 & 2, and The Signatious Hotel Suites Ltd. Others are Geekos Investment Ltd, GKO Group of Companies, Nayee Group of Companies, Falcon Bay Energy Ltd and Keneth O. Gbagi & Associate, where he served as the head of the chamber.

He was one of the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta and was a governorship aspirant for the 1999 and 2007 PDP gubernatorial primary elections.

Mr Gbagi was also the governorship candidate under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during the 2023 election in Delta.

He served as a minister of education in 2010, supervised and midwived the creation of 13 federal universities and eight federal government colleges.

(NAN)