Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun were among the dignitaries who gathered in Lagos on Tuesday to bid farewell to the late veteran broadcaster and former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade, as he was laid to rest.
The remains of the elder statesman were interred at the Ebony Vaults and Gardens Cemetery, Ikoyi.
The burial was preceded by a solemn funeral service held at St. Peter’s Church, Faji, Lagos Island.
Also in attendance were the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, members of the diplomatic community, corporate leaders, clergy, family, and friends, who paid their last respects.
The service featured holy communion and a moving rendition of hymns by the choir.
Some groups who were made up of Kolade’s former colleagues, friends, and associates also took turns to render hymns and songs to honour the deceased.
In his homily, the Bishop of Ilesha Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dapo Asaju, reminded the congregation of the Christian hope of eternal life.
This was as he also described death as a transition rather than an end.
He said, ‘We need to remind ourselves about what happens after life. Christians don’t die, they sleep. Those who sleep in the Lord will rise again. There is joy in the resurrection. Death, for us, is not something to fear; it is simply a graduation ceremony.
‘On the day you were born, that is your matriculation, and you go on to write one exam or the other, then the day of graduation is the day of joy. Then it is convocation and graduation. Those whose names are not in Christ have everything to be worried about because it is appointed unto man to die once and after that comes the judgement’.
The Primate of the Anglican Church in Nigeria, Most Revd Dr Henry Ndukuba, who conveyed his remarks, which were read during the service, extolled Kolade’s virtues, noting that his life exemplified honesty, discipline, and godly leadership.
Kolade’s family, in a statement last Thursday, said he died peacefully on 8 October 2025, at the age of 92.
He was a former Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, and Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2007.
