Gov. Dapo Abiodun Congratulates Chief Olusegun Osoba at 80

The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has acknowledged the larger-than-life image of the second executive governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba.

Governor Abiodun said, “Chief Osoba will be remembered for his resilience, tenacity of purpose and political brinkmanship that has honour”.

In a statement issued in Abeokuta by Kunle Somorin, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Governor Abiodun said: “The title ‘Statesmen’ is not an honorific ascribed or acclaimed by default of social status. It is a journey through the path of excellence, sacrifice, selflessness and dedication to the destination of honour and fulfillment.

“You have journeyed that path for eight decades as a thoroughbred reporter, politician and administrator.”

Gov. Abiodun said as a political son of Osoba, he has learnt a lot from the octogenarian. “We are so very proud of the heritage you bequeath to us”

Describing Chief Osoba as not only a quintessential Statesman but a thoroughbred professional journalist whose legacy will be an inspiration to the successor generation of journalists.

In his biography, ‘Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics’, the statement added, “Baba Osoba reminisced on his sojourn in the past four his rise and rise in his first constituency – Journalism, and recalled that “In 1964, I was the only Lagos reporter that had home telephone”.

“Even with limited understanding in pragmatics,” the Governor noted, “it’s not difficult for an uninitiated to observe that what helped him to succeed in those years was an early investment in acquiring a telephone at home, which was a rarity in those days particularly for a young reporter. He also had
a small notebook which he always carried with him. It was filled with addresses and phone numbers of contacts, politicians and newsmakers.”

Gov. Abiodun said,”If I were to deduce anything from the extract above, more than being the first reporter to own a telephone in Lagos in 1964, it has to be how a highly motivated and visionary young journalist was so determined to succeed in his calling that he invested heavily in a tool which was seen then as a luxury. How it indeed helped him succeed!

“Aremo is arguably the most successful journalist of his generation and it is not difficult to see why he did.”

As a politician, the statement described, Chief Osoba, as “one of the finest, principled and pro-poor leaders who put the people first. That is discernible in how he led Ogun State twice as Governor, how he still leads APC in our State and how he fought for the actualisation of June 12 when Chief MKO Abiola’s mandate was annulled in 1993. He is a progressive of prodigious hue”

Gov. Abiodun thanked Chief Osoba for his inspirational leadership and pray that the Almighty will keep the reporter-statesman in good health.

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