The current and immediate past deans of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies (formerly School of Communication), Professors Yinka Alawode, and Rotimi Olatunji, respectively, sharing memories of a man they regarded as a “mentor of mentors” became a difficult task.
Alawode, who led some colleagues on a condolence visit to the deceased’s Sagamu home on Sunday, said he was too devastated to speak at the time our reporter called.
But his predecessor, Professor Rotimi Olatunji, who was also returning from the visit to the family, described Professor Oso as a pathfinder and a bridge builder.
He said: “I’m still in shock as to the passing of our great intellectual icon – a renowned scholar. He was a great mentor, a brother, and a friend who stuck more than a family. He was my confidante, and above all, he was a trailblazer and a humanist par excellence.
READ ALSO:
Prof. Lai Oso Is Alive! By Jamiu Folarin
‘A Mighty Iroko Has Fallen…One death, Too many!’, By Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika
Lai Oso’s Death, A Bitter Pill To Swallow, By Kehinde Oyesomi, Covenant University
“Professor Oso was so committed to people’s development. He invested his life in mentoring the younger ones in academics and the profession. He has touched so many lives. If I can count correctly, at the LASU’s Faculty of Communication and Media Studies alone, he had up to 20 PhD candidates that he has successfully supervised since 2014 when we started the PhD. programme.”
Also speaking about the deceased, a lecturer in the faculty who described herself as one of Mr Oso’s many academic mentees, Ganiyat Tijani-Adenle, a PhD holder in Journalism, said; “He served with honour and diligence as the Dean of FCMS and he was a well-respected member of LASU community.”
