Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Limited, Mr. Femi Adesina was the recipient of vociferous accolades recently. The Alpha Club of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, poured encomiums on the eminent journalist, lauding him for distinguishing himself as a journalist who has over the years refused to compromise the integrity of the profession.
The club members described Adesina as a lover of the truth, irrespective of whose ox is gored. They commended him as an ardent manager of human and material resources, who has steadily built an enviable reputation for himself.
Officials of Alpha Club made the declarations at a ceremony in Lagos where Adesina was inducted as patron of the club.
Lord Mayor of Alpha Club, Arigbabu Abayomi, told Daily Sun that Adesina’s induction was overdue, describing him as a gentleman and an epitome of greatness, whose light through the pen profession was illuminating the nation and beyond.
He explained that The Sun MD, who is also President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, was honoured because the club only associates with greatness. He added that Alpha members, who are mainly students, stood to benefit from the new patron’s simplicity and achievements.
Alpha Club is a socio-cultural philanthropic and charitable organization founded in 1968 by seven gentlemen from the Faculty of Pharmacy, (OAU). It was designed to bring together gentlemen that are morally straight and disciplined.
If physical appearance was anything to go by, one would easily concur that the young men were indeed gentle ambassadors of the prestigious university. They were neatly dressed in black suits. There were also elements of gentility in their decorum and articulation.
Arigbabu said: “What we do in Alpha Club is that when we want to induct people, we pick those that we feel will impact positively on the club and the society at large. The word Alpha means greatness. The criterion for induction is just greatness. You must be humble and be a person of integrity before you can become a member of the club.
“There are so many other eminent people in the society who had been inducted into the club but it would be incomplete without adding Adesina to the list of our patrons. He is somebody that we all look up to as a role model.”
Deputy Lord Mayor of the club, Odelola Gbenga, said having closely followed Adesina’s intellectual prowess, he was pleased to meet the distinguished media executive in person.
“Femi Adesina is a distinguished gentleman who has effectively managed one of the best newspapers in Nigeria. It is undisputable that The Sun is one of the most widely read newspapers in Nigeria. The MD has achieved success. He is someone that every youth should look up to, emulate and be motivated by his character. He will serve as mentor to many youths and that is why we have come to honour him,” Odelola said.
Reacting to his induction, Adesina said it was a big honour for him to have been chosen as a patron of the club.
“I left the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) 30 years ago, and I knew the club in the university quite all right. I know that members of the club are gentlemen. For you to have come from my own school to do this for me, you have rewritten the saying that a prophet has no honour in his own country. I thank you very much and it is my pleasure to collaborate with the club in any way I can contribute. I will study the constitution so that I will know what my duties and responsibilities as an honorary member of the club are,” he said.
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