Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has warmly celebrated renowned journalist and columnist, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju, for winning this year’s Dame Award, expressing delight at the incredible feat of winning the award for a record third time.
The Dame Award is a prestigious honour reserved for people who distinguished themselves in their chosen fields. Olagunju received the award in 2019, 2021 and 2022, with the 2020 edition suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic.
In a congratulatory message issued yesterday, Governor Adeleke said the Dame Award was a further recognition of Olagunju’s outstanding contributions to the field of journalism.
The governor noted the professionalism, responsiveness and unbending principles of Olagunju, “which explains the values accorded to his works at home and abroad.
“Dr. Olagunju is one of the finest professionals we have around, and I am excited that his contributions to our environment through his work are not going unnoticed.”
The governor noted that: “I congratulate him on being a recipient of the Dame Award. It was a deserved honour going by how much he has used journalism as a tool of positive influence over the years.”
Adeleke expressed hope that Olagunju would continue to do Osun proud and inspire young people in the state and beyond to aim higher in their chosen fields without compromising their integrity.
Olagunju’s winning work challenges the North to rise above the hypocrisy of not criticising one’s kinsmen in public, denouncing it as dangerous in the face of growing insecurity. He calls for progressive redeployment of religion as a tool for peace, knowledge acquisition, and development.
He shows in this piece that he is
comfortable with the English language, as he weaves words confidently to convey a unique style that shows a man versed in the cultural wisdom and nuances of his audience. Olagunju’s writing is ever undergirded by disarming thoughtfulness, logic, courage of his convictions and self-evident scholarship.
He writes the Monday lines column for the Nigerian Tribune and has to his credit over 500 informed articles written consistently every week for the past 10 years.
