Former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Obadiah Mailafia is dead.

A cousin who pleaded anonymity, said Mailafia explained that he was having malaria and cattarh.

The Nigerian foremost economist and polymath died at the age of 64 on Sunday morning at the Gwagwadala Specialist Hospital, Abuja.

Mailafia hailed from Randa, a christian-dominated community in Southern Kaduna.

He was the son of Baba Mailafia Gambo Galadima, an evangelist with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Central Nigeria (ERCC).

Mailafia taught economics at different institutions.

He spent the latter part of his years advocating for a solution to the protracted killings in Southern Kaduna, which had been linked to armed herdsmen of Fulani origin.

In August 2020, the National Broadcasting Commission fined a Lagos based radio, Nigeria Info FM, over a comment made by Dr Mailafia.

It was gathered that the NBC could term Mailaifa’s statement as hate speech and sanction the station.

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Mailaifa had talked on the killings in Southern Kaduna, one of the parts of the North-West region worst hit by banditry.

The interviewer had asked Mailaifa if the government was unwilling to protect the people of Southern Kaduna, to which he replied that some residents believed the government was sponsoring the killers.

Dr Mailafia said, “Some of us also have our intelligence networks. I have met with some of the bandits; we have met with some of their high commanders – one or two who have repented – they have sat down with us not once, not twice.

“They told us that one of the northern governors is the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same. They have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown their planes were moving up and down as if there was no lockdown.

“They were moving ammunition, moving money, and distributing them across different parts of the country.”

Mailafia said Boko Haram had already infiltrated Southern Nigeria, adding that their plan was to spark a second civil war.

He was later invited by the Department of State Services after the interview.

He was a 2019 presidential candidate under the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

He was a former official of the African Development Bank Group.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret Mailafia and children.