By Gilbert Ekezie And Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
A former military governor of Kwara State, Chief Sir Salaudeen Adebola Latinwo, a retired Group Captain in the Nigeria Air Force, is dead.
Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, in his condolence message, commiserated with the people of the state, especially the Offa community, for the loss of the former military administrator, describing him as a statesman whose wealth of experience was invaluable.
A statement issued at the Government House yesterday reads in part: “On behalf of the AbdulRazaqs, the government, and the people of Kwara State, the Governor sends his heartfelt condolences to the family of the late military administrator, the Offa community, and the military establishment on this development.”
“The Governor prays to Allah to repose the soul of the former leader in Al-jannah and uphold his family and the community he left behind.”
A reliable family source informed that he died in his London home, Friday, in his sleep at the age of 80.
Born into the famous family of the Late Aliu Onaolapo Olatinwo of Offa in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State on 12th July 1943, Latinwo was one of the 43 children of 10 wives of his father.
He attended St. Mark’s Primary School Offa from 1950 to 1956. He later proceeded to Offa Grammar School from 1957 to 1961 where he obtained his West African School Certificate. In 1961, Latinwo joined the Northern Nigeria Civil Service and worked at the Northern Nigeria Ministry of Education.
He went to the National Institute of Administration in the United Kingdom in 1962 for an Executive Officers Course and rose to the rank of an Assistant Chief Executive Officer in the then Northern Nigeria Ministry of Education.
In 1963, then Sarduana of Sokoto and the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, handpicked him from the Ministry of Education and other youths in Nigeria for training in Germany to form the nucleus of the Nigerian Air Force. Latinwo was, therefore, recruited into the Nigerian Air Force in 1963 to represent Northern Nigeria.
He married his only wife, Mrs. Mercy Latinwo (Nee Aganga) in 1971 and had four children. The late Latinwo was the brother-in-law to former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Industry, Trade, and Investment, Mr Olusegun Oluwatoyi Aganga.
He served under Muhammadu Buhari’s military government from January 1984 – August 1985.
He was part of the pioneering sets of officer cadets recruited into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in 1963, under the first Chief of Air Staff of the Nigerian Air Force, Colonel Gerhard Kahtz, who was on secondment as head of the German Air Force Assistance Group (GAFAG). He retired from active service in 1986.