The Lagos State University (LASU), Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta Muslim Alumni (MAPAMA) and BrandArena have mourned the death of Nigeria’s Mass Communication icon and astute scholar, Prof Lai Oso who passed on Saturday, 24th of June, 2022 after involving in a fatal auto crash in Ijebu, Ogun State, South West Nigeria, along Ore-Sagamu highway.
The incumbent Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, to her predecessor, Olanrewaju Fagbohun, and the school’s current and immediate past deans of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (formerly School of Communication), Yinka Alawode, and Rotimi Olatunji, respectively, sharing memories of a man they regarded as a “mentor of mentors” became a difficult task.
Mr Fagbohun, a professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in his tribute, described Mr Oso’s death as “the exit of a methodical communications statesman.” According to him, “Professor Oso was a ‘luminary of Communication’, who oozed excellence and wit. He wrote precisely what he meant to say and delivers the same with resonating eloquence and great confidence. He was a highly respected practitioner with a reserved and endearing personality".
MAPAMA National President, Prince Taofeek Oyeniyi in a press statement signed Sunday in Lagos, by its Head, Media and Publicity Committee, Tajudeen Balogun, said like many of Prof. Oso’s counterparts, colleagues and students in Nigeria and overseas, received the news of his death with shock, Sunday morning, but with total submission to the will of Allah.
MAPAMA President, indicated that giving the torrents of accolades and eulogies being heaped on the eminent Prof. of Communication and former Head, Mass Communication Department, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta MAPOLY, as well as former Deputy Rector of the institution during Alhaji Waheed Kadiri’s FNITP tenure (1998-2001) said he cannot, but join the Nigerian Communication family, MAPOLY and his present employer, the Lagos State University LASU and ultimately, his immediate and extended families on the painful exit of a core academician and a teacher per excellence.
The MAPAMA President described Prof. Oso as an iconic, erudite and unassuming teacher; a versatile, cheerful, persistent, diligent and focused professional in his gifted field of practice. Oyeniyi affirmed: “Ultimately, despite the shocking development, MAPAMA is delighted that Prof. Oso lived an impactful life, as many of his former and present students are scattered around the world, making fortunes out of the tutelage from him and have since become communication experts/gurus, media entrepreneurs, tutor and successful professionals today”.
The MAPAMA President, therefore, declared that all of these greater feats being recounted today could not have happened by accident, reiterating that the praises are well deserving and worthy of being reinforced for others to learn from. He prayed to Allah to comfort Prof. Oso’s teeming students across the globe, his constituents and mostly, his immediate and extended families. He also prayed to Allah to avail his family the fortitude to bear the loss.
Founder and Publisher of BrandArena, Lukmon Oloyede also described the late Prof. Oso as a pathfinder and a bridge builder. "He is a pathfinder that has immortalized himself with all works in the field of communication. His books will continue to make him a man to remember and his teachings and leadership would never be forgotten.
He was making a return trip to Lagos after discharging an academic assignment – as an External Examiner at the Delta State University (DELSU), Abaraka, South-South Nigeria.
Late Prof. Oso was also a former Dean, of the School of Communications at LASU before his passing.
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