AMOSUN, ABIODUN RESUMES POLITICAL RIVALRY
Ibikunle Amosun, the immediate past governor of Ogun State and lawmaker representing Ogun State Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, and his successor, Dapo Abiodun, appear to be headed on a collision course once again. Until they met recently during the coronation of the traditional ruler of Owu in Ogun State, Oba Saka Matemilola, both politicians were not on speaking terms for five years. The event, which took place sometime in October 2022, unexpectedly provided them an opportunity to put aside their differences. The two exchanged pleasantries and even shared a warm hug.
Then just when indigenes of Ogun State thought that both men had finally buried the hatchet, they resumed their animosity towards one another. Apparently Amosun, who had previously boasted that he would work against the second term bid of Abidoun, fired the first salvo by pointedly shunning the latter’s APC governorship campaign train and openly supporting Barrister
Biyi Otegbeye, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to spite Abidoun who he had accused of betrayal in 2019.
Amosun was seen addressing a crowd comprising ADC faithful at the flag-off of Otegbeye's campaign in Abeokuta last week. He did not only revisit his quarrel with Abiodun but also accused him of destroying the legacies that he left behind in Ogun. The former governor claimed that he improved Ogun’s ranking on the list of most developed states in the federation from the 35th position to the 3rd and 4th positions consecutively. He pointed at the education and health sectors of the state, as well as the employment rate and complained that those areas had been on a steady decline since Abiola took over him as governor of the state.
Amosun also faulted the Dapo Abiodun Administration in the state on its ‘reckless’ spending on schools renovation. He argued that while his government had expended the total sum of N6.9bn on the construction of 15 model schools in the state, the present administration renovated a single school at the cost of N3bn.
Reacting, Abidoun denied the allegation and made it known that the model school was built with N830m as against N6.9bn mentioned by Amosun. He labeled the former governor a liar and revealed that he only converted Amosun's moribund model school to a functional technology hub within three weeks of assuming office. He in turn accused the former governor of not living up to his words when he was at the helm of the state. Acording to him, Amosun always claimed to have paid for his projects, whereas, in actual fact, he abandoned them.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Dupe Olusola, has been named on the list of 10 Most Influential Black Corporate Leaders To Follow in 2023. Olusola, who started manning the upscale hospitality centre about three years ago, was honoured by a United Statesbased digital news company, CIO News. CIO News is the brainchild of CIO.Com, a one stop shop for enterprise, business technology executives around the world searching for unparalleled peer insight and expertise to remain on the cutting edge of business, tech and
Doyin Abiola, widow of late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, also known as MKO, has joined the octogenarian club. The mother of one, who was formerly the Managing Director and Editorin-Chief of the defunct Concord Group of Newspapers, has lived a fulfilled life in the past eight leadership.
Ten corporate gurus were chosen from around the world with Olusola as the only Nigerian among them. Since taking charge of the affairs of the hospitality outlet, she has left no stone unturned to keep it among the top-ranking and best run hotels in Nigeria. Transcorp Hotels, under her leadership, have developed a companywide ethos of striving for and achieving excellence in all they do. Excited by the good news, Olusola shared the story of her journey as the CEO of the hotel, while encouraging career women never to give up their quest for career advancement. decades.
A woman of many firsts and a second, Dr Abiola was the first woman to be named editor of a national daily and the first Nigerian woman to preside over the fortunes of a national newspaper group. She was also the first woman to be selected for the Eisenhower Fellowship in 1986. She was the second woman to receive a Diamond Award for Media Excellence, (DAME) Lifetime Achievements Award.
Dr Abiola started her career in 1969 at the Daily Sketch Newspaper where she was a columnist writing, Tiro, a column that addressed issues of public concern and gender matters. She left in 1970 to pursue a Master’s degree in Journalism in the United States. When she returned, she joined Daily Times and was writing features until she rose through the ranks and was made the Group Feature Editor. She later left for New York University to obtain a PhD in Communication and Political Science.
Abiola went back to the Daily
Times upon her return, but left shortly after to work with National Concord Newspaper. a newspaper company owned by her husband. She started off as its pioneer editor. Rising through the ranks again, she emerged the first Nigeria female woman to become the editor in chief of a newspaper. Dr Abiola’s Concord career journey spanned three decades where she groomed veterans in the industry and was a great influence in the lives of seasoned journalists, such as Mike Awoyinfa, whom she used to change the face of Nigeria journalism on Saturday with Weekend Concord, which majored in human angles stories that excited the reading public. Over the years, in many media houses in Nigeria and abroad, Dr. Doyin Abiola’s protégés have made her proud by flying the flag of the profession with pride.