Dr Victor Omololu Olunloyo, the second civilian governor of Oyo State between October and December 1983, is dead, a few days before his 90th birthday.
According to a statement by his family on Sunday, he died a few days before his 90th birthday.
The statement titled ‘Victor Olunloyo goes home’ was signed by Oladapo Ogunwusi on behalf of the family.
It read, “With a heavy heart but gratitude to the Almighty, we announce the passing into glory of Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, former governor of Oyo State, mathematician, engineer, and renowned technocrat, a few days before his 90th birthday.
“The Balogun of Oyo and Otun Bobasewa of Ife, Dr Olunloyo, was first Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, and first Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, among other notable appointments.
“His long record of service to the nation and humanity is a source of pride to his family and associates, even as we come to grips with this devastating event.
“The Olunloyo family will appreciate the understanding of the press and the public as they commence efforts to give him a befitting burial.
“Even from everlasting to everlasting, He is God.”
Omololu Olunloyo: The Man, His Birth, His Education
Victor Omololu Sowemimo Olunloyo was born in Ibadan on 14 April 1935 to the late Horatio Olunloyo (who died in December 1948) and Alhaja Bintu Tejumola Abebi Olunloyo (who died in October 2013).
The late Omololu Olunloyo received his Ph.D. from St. Andrews University in 1961. His thesis was on the numerical determination of the solutions of eigenvalue problems of the Sturm–Liouville type. He also published several other papers on number theory and applied mathematics.
The politician and his appointments
He was a mathematician and politician who served as governor of Oyo State from 1 October 1983 to 31 December 1983, when General Muhammadu Buhari’s military regime took power.
He later became a power and an arrowhead in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State.
At the young age of 27, he was appointed Commissioner for Economic Development for the Western Region in 1962, in the cabinet of Dr. Moses Majekodunmi.
Olunloyo was reappointed when Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo (deceased) was appointed military governor of Western State.
He held various other positions, including Commissioner for Community Development, Education (twice), and Special Duties.
As the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the late Olunloyo supervised the coronations of two prominent Yoruba traditional rulers: the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, and the late Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi Ajagungbade.
He was appointed chairman of the Western Nigerian Development Corporation (WNDC).
Omololu Olunloyo As Governor
In 1983, Olunloyo ran for the governorship election in the old Oyo State on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and defeated the incumbent, the late Chief Bola Ige of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), assuming office in October 1983.
However, his tenure was short-lived. It ended three months later, on 31 December 1983, when the then-General Muhammadu Buhari took over power and dismissed the elected government in the Second Republic.
His Latter Years
Olunloyo wanted to be the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2003 governorship election in Oyo State. However, Senator Rasheed Ladoja (now the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland) emerged as the PDP candidate.
In 2009, he was chairman of a panel investigating the collapse of part of the Pharmacy Section of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH). The panel blamed the contractor and the state government for the building’s collapse.
He was elected chairman of the PDP Planning and Strategy Committee for Ibadanland to prepare for the 2011 elections. He was also made chairman of the state’s PDP Media and Publicity Committee.
Until his death in the early hours of Sunday, 6 April 2025, the late Dr Omololu Olunloyo lived a quiet life in retirement, away from the public glare at his residence in Molete, Ibadan.
