Chief Olusegun Osoba waxing stronger at 82
Chief Olusegun Osoba, an astute manager, quintessential journalist, former governor of Ogun State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was born today, exactly 82 years ago, precisely, on July 15, 1939.
Chief Olusegun Osoba attended series of professional courses after graduation from Methodist Boys High School, Lagos. He obtained a Diploma in Journalism at the University of Lagos and went for one-year course in the United Kingdom on the scholarship of the Commonwealth Press Union in 1967.
In 1969, he was in Bloomington, USA at the Indiana University’s department of journalism. In 1974 he won the Nieman Fellowship Award for journalism for postgraduate study at Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and record shows that he is the first Nigerian to have won this prestigious Nieman Fellowship for Journalism
Chief Olusegun Osoba started his career in journalism in 1964 working with the Daily Times as a trainee reporter covering crime stories and by 1966, he was the diplomatic Correspondent of The Times. He became News Editor in 1968 and Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times in 1971 and Deputy Editor of The Times in 1972.
In August 1975, he became the Editor of the Daily Times of Nigeria, then left the firm in November 1975 to take up the task of General Manager of the Ilorin based Nigerian Herald.
He returned to the Times in 1984 as the Managing Drector. Internationally, he worked as stringer or local correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Times of London, Newsweek Magazine, and United Press International News Agency.
He was the chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism and Member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute representing Black-Africa from 1984-1992.
He was a member of the Nigerian Constituent Assembly in 1988. He is also member of the Commonwealth Press Union, London and the Nigerian Union of Journalist.
After a very successful career in journalism, Akinrogun Olusegun Osoba was elected on two occasions as Governor of Ogun State first from January 1992 until November 1993 with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was removed from office by Sani Abacha’s administration on 17 November 1993. In the 1999 Ogun State gubernatorial election, he was elected again as governor under Alliance for Democracy (AD), holding office between May 1999 and May 2003.
One of those things that marked Osoba’s government out was its committed interest in rural development. The opening up of many rural areas through construction of access roads and supplying of electricity to many remote villages during Osoba’s regime.
However, his desire to return Oke Mosan, Governor’s Office for another term didn’t scale through as he lost the election to Otunba Gbenga Daniel who contested under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Outside government, Osoba teamed up with the former governor of Lagos State, Sen Ahmed Bola Tinubu to form Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and in 2017, the party fused with some other ones like Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to become a mega party called APC.
He had since remained one of the national leaders of APC and was quite instrumental to the emergence of Prince Dapo Abiodun as the governor of the state against the stiff opposition from his predecessor, Sen Ibikunle Amosun.
As this highly intelligent and Apostle of politics for development celebrates his 82nd birthday today, it’s the prayers of Many Nigerians that the Egba born politician and leader of APC will keep on waxing stronger.
