The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja, commiserated with the management and staff of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), over the death of their Executive Director, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin.

Mrs Buhari, who was at the UNFPA office in Abuja, said Osotimehin was a patriotic Nigerian, who had contributed to the improvement of the health and well-being of women and children in Nigeria.

Mrs Buhari, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr Hajo Sani, said that the death of Osotimehin came as rude shock to her.

She prayed to Almighty God to give the family and entire members of UNFPA family the fortitude to bear the loss.

The wife of the president said that the deceased was instrumental to the formation and success of her pet project the “Future Assured” initiative.

She described the deceased as a pillar of support and an integral part of the Future Assured Programme.

She added that his contributions to Nigeria’s health sector development will be greatly missed.

Mrs Buhari later presented letters of condolence to the staff members of UNFPA.

In her response, the Country Representative of UNFPA, Dr Diene Keita, said that the organisation was devastated by the sudden death of Prof. Osotimehin.

“We are all devastated by the death of our boss Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, the shock is so much that I have nothing more to say than to say thank you to all national authorities.

“Especially the wife of the President who came to pay a condolence visit to the UNFPA family is a fact that we are not alone in this,” Keita said.

Osotimehin was born on Feb. 6, 1949 in Ogun.

The late Prof. Osotimehin graduated from the University of Ibadan.

He was appointed as the Executive Director of UNFPA on Dec. 19, 2010, after serving as the Federal Minister of Health.

He had previously served as the Director-General, National Action Committee against Aids (NACA) in Nigeria.