Tributes, encomiums as Fajounbo bows out of OGBC in style

In grand style, the Assistant General Manager of the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Mr. Mobolaji Fajounbo, bowed out of service with his head high up after years of meritorious service in the media industry and to humanity.

It was encomium galore at the send forth party organised in his honour at Conference Hall of the Ogun State Housing Corporation, as his past colleagues, childhood friends and well wishers, especially members of the OGBC Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, in conjunction with the state Council, staged a reception to honour the newsroom guru.

One of his childhood friends, Mr. Kolawole Isola, who described Fajounbo as soft-spoken and a personality who many know and see as a complete gentleman, said he was at the time very rascally. “While we were growing up, Bola Fajounbo had a rascally behaviour and along the line, whether he met Jesus just like Apostle Paul on his way to Damascus or vice versa, he suddenly became a changed man, very serious and dedicated.

Another childhood friend, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of SWAT, Kayode Ayilara, recalled some of the childhood fantasies he had with Fajounbo while growing up at Oke-Nla in the Ifo area of the state. He recalled how Fajounbo of old would clutch a copy of James Hadley Chase novel in his pocket while walking around, describing him as one of the best hands in the literary and debating society way back, which was unbeaten.

A former Assistant General Manager of the OGBC, Prince Toyin Gbadebo, who was one of the people who took Fajounbo in when he was newly employed, said it was a shocker to him when he learnt Fajounbo’s retirement. “It was a surprise, because I said, ‘when did we employ him that he is now retiring?’ I call him Bolaj. Bolaji is a meticulous guy.

“Let me recall this story, when he came to the newsroom, due to his meekness, I wondered aloud if he would be able to survive in the newsroom, but he surpassed my expectations. He is a man such that when you give him a job to do, you can go to bed and sleep tight.”

The General Manager of OGBC, Mrs. Toyin Sogbesan, who also described Fajounbo as a complete gentleman, said: “I call him a gentleman because you would hardly hear him speak loudly or audibly and I harass him most times on this, just to make him speak out.”

“I do not know much about his rascally nature, which some of his friends spoke about, but the Bola Fajounbo that I know is a complete gentleman. Another thing that no one has spoken about concerning Mr. Fajounbo is that he has a very good dress sense, such that I sometimes use him to chastise others asking them to emulate him.”

Responding, the celebrant, Fajounbo, while appreciating everyone for the kind words and the honour, attributed the ideals, which someone like him upheld to what he learnt from some of his late bosses, such as Mr. Funso Sogbanmu and the late Uncle Deji Odunlami, while urging those he left behind to continue to uphold the newsroom culture and nurture it.