Gbenro Adesina
A renowned Professor of Political Science, media scholar, newspaper columnist and former Chairman of the Editorial Board of the defunct Daily Times Plc, Professor Ayo Olukotun, on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, died.
Olukotun, who was born on May 27, 1953, was said to have died after a brief illness.
According to Dr Bukola Oyenyi, who broke the news on his Facebook page said, “This is not the way to start a new year, but we accept fate.”
Scholars and colleagues all over the world have started mourning his passage.
Breaking the news, Professor Toyin Falola stated, “We lost the great man a few minutes ago.”
Also, Professor Tunde Babawale of the University of Lagos said, “This is the most devastating news. May the Lord grant his soul eternal rest and comfort his family and loved ones.”
Olukotun was the Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance, Political Science Department, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.
He lectured at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, (ABU), University of Lagos (Unilag) and Lagos State University (LASU).
He was a visiting professor of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He was also a distinguished professor and head, Department of Political Science and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences at the Lead City University.
As a journalist, he was the Chair of the Editorial Board of Daily Times; and through his weekly penetrative columns that have appeared in Daily Times, Guardian, Compass and Punch and several other frontline newspapers, Olukotun evokes deep ideas to challenge issues of bad governance in the country, while copiously recommending alternative pathways to national redemption.
