Rotimi Akeredolu died in Lagos on Wednesday. Just last year, the former Governor of Ondo State made a damning statement on public officials and leadership in Nigeria.

FIJ revisits Akeredolu’s statement in June 2022 at the church service mourning over 40 Catholics whom terrorists killed in Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.

“As of the last count, these animals who came to Saint Francis Church, murdered 40 people. And we still have over 70 in the hospital. Some have been discharged. What is your governor going to say in defence? Nothing,” Akeredolu said at the state burial for the deceased.

“I am here before you to accept our failure on security. We have failed. We have failed to defend these people (victims of the Owo massacre). Not because we are not trying, but because the forces on the other side are evil and they have support.”

READ MORE: OBITUARY: He Won Amotekun Battle but Lost to Leukaemia. The Short Life of Rotimi Akeredolu

At the time, Akeredolu made several emotional statements about the Owo Catholic Church massacre.

Just a day after the terror attack, Akeredolu visited Saint Francis Church in Owo. There, he said that the gun violence in the United States of America was child’s play when compared to what had happened inside the church.

“I don’t want to talk about what we see and what we hear happen in America. What has happened here… What happens in America is child’s play compared to what has happened here. From information from the security operatives, this has been the most dastardly act that can ever happen in any society,” Akeredolu told journalists on June 6, 2022.

“That it happened in a church, to say the least, is most condemnable. I had to leave Abuja immediately to be here because this is so important. I feel terribly grieved.”

Akeredolu’s death has not slowed down the criticism coming his way. Some Ondo indigenes complained that the state retrogressed under him.

READ ALSO: ‘We Have Failed’ — Akeredolu Sobs at Burial Mass for Victims of Catholic Church Attack

“The Akeredolus lived life like he wouldn’t leave the office. I will never forget that my dad’s prolonged sickness is directly tied to his wickedness,” Oluwafemi Ajayi posted on X.

“He didn’t pay his pension, and when he was sick, the hospitals weren’t working because he was owing health workers. He was a terrible governor, and I hope his family are comforted. We pray we never experience a governor like him again.”

He was a terrible governor and while I hope his family are comforted.

We pray we never experience a governor like him again.

— SF (@SFAjayi) December 27, 2023

Poor healthcare and a very weakened civil service were talking points when Akeredolu’s leadership was condemned.

Ondo residents, like many Nigerians, blame poor leadership for failure to protect the lives and properties of citizens.

Meanwhile, the late legal icon, as the leader of the six southwest governors, was instrumental in the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed Amotekun.