Ayodeji Femi-Pearse, the founder of the popular scenic resort,
Whispering Palms in Iworo, Badagry, is dead.
The late professor of medicine died on Friday at the age of 86,
following a brief illness.
During his lifetime, Mr Femi-Pearse had an illustrious academic
career as Provost, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Acting
Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Pro-Chancellor,
Lagos State University (LASU), among others.
He retired into the hospitality industry to establish the famous
seaside Whispering Palms leisure resort in 1991.
In a condolence message, LASU Vice Chancellor, Olanrewaju
Fagbohun, commiserated with the family on the death of the former
Chairman of the university’s governing council.
“The painful death of Professor Femi-Pearse is not only a great loss
to the academic community in Nigeria, but to the nation as a whole.
“This is because he was an outstanding contributor to quality
academic research and an example of good leadership in the
country,” Mr Fagbohun said in a statement.
The vice chancellor prays God to grant the late academic and
hospitality guru eternal rest and the family the fortitude to bear the
irreparable loss.
Newsmen gathered that Femi-Pearse, a revered scholar, was born on
September 18, 1932, at Yaba, Lagos.
He attended CMS Grammar School, Lagos and proceeded to the
University of Aberdeen Scotland to study medicine and later joined
UNILAG College of Medicine and LUTH as a staff.
He became a Professor in 1977 at the age of 45 and later Provost,
UNILAG College of Medicine and Chief Medical Director, LUTH.
In 1980, Mr Femi-Pearse was appointed as the Acting Vice –
Chancellor UNILAG and between 2000 and 2004, he became
Chairman, LASU Governing Council.
He was until his death the Founder and Chairman, Whispering
Palms Resort, Iworo, Badagry.
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the death
of the professor.
The president, in a condolence message issued by his Special Adviser
on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Sunday,
condoled with Ibilola, the widow of the departed, and the entire
Femi-Pearce family, friends and relations.
He urged them to take solace in the fact that, their patriarch left his
footprints on the sands of time, serving meritoriously at the General
Hospital, Lagos, and Lagos University Hospital (LUTH), among
others.
The president, who prayed God to grant repose to the soul of the
deceased, urged those he left behind to keep his memory alive
through the preservation of his legacies.
EmoticonEmoticon