By Adewale Adesanya (Ogun State Correspondent, in Abeokuta)
Eminent Professor of Mass Communication, Professor Muraina Olaiwola Oso, popularly known as 'Lai Oso', on Saturday evening, lost his life in a ghastly auto mishap in Ijebu area, along the Ore-Sagamu expressway.
The accident, according to an eye witness account, occurred at about 3:15pm on Saturday, June 24, 2023, while the 68 year-old renowned media academician was allegedly returning from a conference in Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, Delta State. His car, unfortunately, allegedly skidded off the road, a few meters to a bridge, and plunged into a shallow river.
Professor Oso, before he met his untimely death, was in DELSU, Abraka, during the out-gone week where he was said to be an external examiner for Post-graduate students at the Department of Mass Communication of the Delta State owned institution.
The death of Professor Lai Oso of the Mass Communication Department, Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, Lagos, was further confirmed in a short statement to the media, today, Sunday, June 25, 2023, by the Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies of LASU, Professor Sunday Olayinka Alawode.
Alawode, in his message, wrote thus: “Good morning family. I am constrained to inform us of the involvement of Professor Muraino Olayiwola OSO, (we all fondly called Baba Lai Oso) in a ghastly auto accident which claimed his life yesterday 24th June 2023.
“It’s a rude shock to all of us even as we commiserate with Mummy Oso, the children and his entire family, the Communication family worldwide, LASU Community and all others.
“Baba, your sudden exit is painful, but we rest in the comfort that you have gone to be with the Lord. Rest in Peace. Adieu Baba of the Communication family.”
Late Professor Lai Oso who was also a Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, LASU, between 2011 and 2015, also was President of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN).
He graduated with a good Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) honors degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, and obtained a Masters of Science (M.Sc.) degree in International Relations from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. Oso, thereafter, headed to the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, on a Federal Government Scholarship platform and equally obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in Mass Communication in 1977.
The erudite Professor did not just limit his career to the academia, he also worked in the media newsrooms as a news reporter with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the Radio. In his successful career as a University Lecturer, Oso taught courses in journalism, media and governance, political communication, development communication and theory.
Prof Lai Oso, in his lifetime, impacted positively on the careers of his student protegees, most of whom are presently distinguished in the media and related Communications industry. Among them, are Messers Idris Mohammed and Wasiu Tejuoso, both of who remarked on the demise of their trainer.
Expressing his sadness, Idris Mohammed, on Saturday, wrote on his Facebook wall thus: “It's with great sadness and heavy heart that I bring to you the passing away of our very own Professor Lai Oso of the Mass Communication Department, Lagos State University in the evening today (Saturday) as a result of a ghastly accident on his way back to Lagos from Abraka, Delta State.
"Late Lai Oso was one of Professor Pate’s allies and a great communication scholar in Nigeria. He was a humble and generous man of exemplary good character. Goodnight Prof.!!"
The said ally of late Professor Oso, Prof. Umaru A. Pate, is currently the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashere, Gombe State. He is also a former Dean, School of Post-graduate Studies, Bayero University Kano; the President of Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) and a member of the UNESCO Network of Communication Professors.
However, another of late Professor Lai Oso's post-graduate student and the Editor-in-chief of a news outfit, Platforms Africa, Mr Adeola Yusuf, lamented about the tragic development thus: a “huge Library of Communication has just been set ablaze". NNL.
