2014 International Reunion Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient Citation
THE ARTS CATEGORY
Mr. Oyewole Olaoye
The winner of the 2014 Great Ife Alumni Award for Excellence in the Arts category is Mr. Oyewole Olaoye. This award is in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the area of Social Engineering and the development of global Media/Communications community in general and Nigeria in particular. He was also specially recognized for championing the development and growth of Great Ife Alumni Association Worldwide.
Abridged Profile
Mr. Oyewole Olaoye is a graduate of the University of Ife where he bagged a B.A. Literature in English, and the University of Lagos where he obtained an M.Sc. in Mass Communication. His working career has seen him go from the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service (WNBS) to Indigo Magazine and then to Drum Publications where he rose to become an Editor. He was also a columnist with both Drum and Trust magazines between 1975 and 1984.
From Drum, he joined West African Book Publishers Limited (WABP) in 1984 on the editorial team of Monthly Life magazine and rose to become Editor-in Chief before he was appointed Director, Administration and Planning in 1990. While with WABP, he was privileged to make valuable contributions to the marketing efforts of the EDCON group, particularly that of Academy Press, the largest commercial printing press in West Africa. He has since established a PR/Communication firm, Diametrics Limited, headquartered in Abuja, where he is Chairman/CEO.
Before venturing into journalism, Olaoye had seriously considered becoming a Catholic priest. Indeed he had enrolled at the Major Seminary of SS Peter & Paul, Bodija, Ibadan where he read Philosophy and some Theology before calling it quits. Several of his colleagues at the seminary are now archbishops and bishops of various dioceses all over Nigeria.
Mr. Olaoye has served as a Member of the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, between 2006 and 2010; and a Director of OAU Investment Company Limited (incorporating publishing, printing, hospitality, manufacturing, agricultural, engineering and logistical enterprises) from 2008 to 2012. He was also for several years Chairman of the joint Council/ Senate Committee on Senior Staff Discipline of the Obafemi Awolowo University. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Leadership Newspapers and a columnist in Daily Trust. He is a member of the Board of Academy Press Plc.
Married to Anne Ndidiamaka Olaoye with three children, Mr. Olaoye is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and a Fellow of the African Public Relations Association (APRA). In the course of professional commitments, he has visited 35 out of the 36 states of Nigeria and has also toured the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Gambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Mauritius, among others.
A former National President of the Great Ife Alumni Association, he is a recipient of the highest national honour of Grand Commander of Great Ife. He is a member of the Lagos Island Club and subscribes to several voluntary agencies, especially those involved in what he describes as “social engineering sector”.
By receiving this Award for Excellence, Mr. Oyewole Olaoye is automatically inducted into the Great Ife Alumni Hall of Distinction.