Thursday 30 November 2023 would remain a day the Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Newspot online newspaper Sir Folu Olamiti would live to cherish for a long time to come.
It was a day media practitioners drawn from the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) Internation Press Institute ( IPI) and Veterans of the media Profession led by the Generalissimo of the media, Chief Olusegun Osoba were in the ancient city of Ibadan to honour Sir Folu Olamiti as he marked his 72nd year birthday and a lunch of a book he authored– ” A Peep Into The Past – an oeuvre.
The event took place at the University of Ibadan Conference Centre.
The day was marked with avalanche of tributes from media practitioners that had passed through Folu Olamiti tutelage.
To kick- start the tribute was Pastor Dr Segun Olatunji former MD/ Editor-in-Chief Tribune titles and presently a consultant with the company and a top rank pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God ( RCCG)
He spoke of how as a teenager he was brought to Ibadan from his village from Ilaje to stay with his brother who was then a close friend to the celebrant whom he said was fondly called broda Folu.
” I was a young boy in the primary school but took interest and affection in the profession moreso how broda Folu was traveling both in and outside the country.
” After my Primary, Secondary and University education I fully came under the mentorship of broda Folu.
” He left me in the Tribune as Editor of the paper and later rose to become the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Tribune titles. I went back to the University of Ibadan to earn my Ph.D
” I was not the only person Broda Folu mentored. We are many; namely Professor Adeolu Akande the immediate past Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Laolu Akande Former Special Adviser Media and Publicity in the Vice President office of the Buhari Administration, Professor Wale Adebanwi a Nigerian-born first Black Rhodes Professor at St Antony’s College, Oxford where he was, until June 2021, a Professor of Race Relations, and the Director of the African Studies Centre, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, and a Governing Board Fellow. He is currently a Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Lanre Ogundipe former President of Nigerian Union of Journalists ( NUJ), Bode Opeseitan Director, External Communications and PR GLO just to mention but a few.”
He said boda Folu was a conssumate leader who thought us how to gather good news from any source. ” A reporter will go to an event and write only one story but boda Folu would produce for you six good stories.”
” He is not bossy but ready to learn from his surbordinates. May he live long to eat the fruit of his labour.”
Chief Segun Osoba who chaired the occasion, spoke highly of Olamiti and commended his ability to balance his religious and work life.
He showered encomium on him and for his impact in the Nigerian media space and emphasized importance of mentoring
Folu Olamiti retired from the Tribune Group of Newspapers where he worked for 32 years.
Chief Osoba said: “I want to thank all of you that were here today to honour a great man.
“Folu Olamiti is different. How he manages to be a good Christian and a very active member of the Anglican Communion, I don’t understand.
“This is because for we journalists, Sunday is the most difficult day for us because there are no activities on Sundays and you must produce paper for Monday. How he manages to do that is extraordinary.
“I have a high regard and respect for him,” Osoba said.
In his remarks, the publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, noted that it was important to mentor others as exhibited by the author in the media space.
He said: “God has given him the grace of staying relevant and I am here to congratulate him, and to offer my encouragement that when you are good you must encourage others.
“The reason our country sometimes can be the way it is, is because we don’t encourage good people and Uncle Folu is a very good man. I want to thank him for mentoring me like he mentored so many people.
“It is not always easy but he is able to do it effortlessly.”
Also, an Ibadan High Chief, Lekan Alabi, who is the Maye Olubadan of Ibadanland, extolled the virtues of the author.
Mr Alabi said he met Mr Olamiti in 1973, a time when the journalism of that time reflected the level of people’s intelligence and physical appearance.
In his goodwill message, Yinka Fasuyi, a Chief in Ijesaland and a close friend of Olamiti eulogised him for sharing his life’s work and opinion with the public.
He urged media practitioners to be up and doing in fulfilling the ethos of their profession.
In his review of the book, Femi Adesina, a former media aide of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, said the 303-page 12-chapter book contained the author’s memoirs, articles and reports.
He said the book unravelled insights into the life of the late sage and politician, Obafemi Awolowo, and other dignitaries in Nigeria, as well as the lives of lowly people.
Mr Adesina said the book contained essays by Mr Olamiti on restructuring Nigeria, foreign issues and Idanre land in Ondo State, as well as his days in the Nigerian Tribune newspapers and the ICPC.
“Are you proud of where you hail from? Do you contribute to its development? Let us all take a cue from Olamiti,” the former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity said.
While responding to the remarks, Mr Olamiti not only appreciated all who made the book’s presentation a reality but all those who have supported him at one point or the other in life.
He paid glowing tributes to those of his closest younger brothers and friends who had passed to the world beyond in particular Archbishop Humphrey Olumakaiye and Akinola Adebamiwa.
In his goodwill message the former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC Mr Ekpo Nta wrote:
GOODWILL MESSAGE
Today, in the iconic premises of the iconic University of Ibadan, my alma mater, It is indeed my greatest pleasure to join everyone at this book launch in celebrating Folu Olamiti as he unveils his book: A Peep Into the Past: an oeuure. In November 2011, when I was appointed as the Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), I had the opportunity of formally meeting with Folu Olamiti. He had served with my immediate predecessor, Justice Ayoola as a Media Consultant, and based on his antecedents, I had no problem extending, and subsequently renewing his contracts of service. To a large extent, the down-to-earth reporting style of ICPC, which is devoid of sensationalism, can be attributed to his invaluable services based on his high reputation, equity and expertise as a matured journalist and Counsellor. To his credit, throughout my tenure as ICPC Chairman, we never had to recant any publication. In addition, he left indelible foot prints and achievements in the National Volunteers Corps (NAVC) and other mandates of ICPC. From when he left the Services of the ICPC after the expiration of his contracts, and long after I had completed my tenure as Chairman in August 2017, we have remained very close friends and I aptly follow his online publication:Newspotng.com for authentic daily news updates and breaking news.As a distinguished Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors with 50 years of varied local and international journalism experiences, 32 of which he served at the African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, Publishers of the Tribune titles, in different roles as Editor of the Sunday Tribune, Editor of the Nigerian Tribune and Executive Director of the Tribune titles’, it would have been a great disservice to humanity if he had not formally published this book!!! Finally, dear Chairman of the occasion, State Governors in attendance (or in proxy), the Sir Folu Olamiti I know will never beg for National Honours so please use this opportunity to strongly recommend him for one, as we all know that given his unparalleled antecedents, he eminently deserved one decades ago for his selfless service to democracy, humanity and professional decency.
Ekpo Nta, Esq. Chairman, International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA), Austria, & Chairman/CEO, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Nigeria. 30 November 2023, Abuja
Olamiti was at the ICPC for 10 years and has now been working with the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) for the past eight years on media-related activities.
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
