George Okoro and Ayo Olukotun

Two great men whose paths I had the fortune of crossing and who were very dear to me and to whom I owe a huge debt of grateful thankfulness have departed earthly life.

They are George Okoro and Professor Ayo Olukotun. George Okoro was my teacher and Ayo Olukotun was my close colleague.

When I was publisher of National Compass, Olukotun was chairman of the Editorial Board. It was not at the Compass that our paths first crossed; it was on Sunday Times at Kakawa. He was our reporter at Ibadan and I was a sub-editor, with Dipo Ajayi from Lagos Weekend in the saddle, holding forte for Gbolabo Ogunsanwo who was on vacation.

Since I had the responsibility to gather story copies in addition to my normal schedule, we had no choice but to relate very closely, sometimes with shouting from me. It was a short spell.

So when we met at Compass we were no strangers to ourselves. That was where our interactions became impactful. Prof. Olukotun as is demanded of the profession, read voraciously, and this was reflected in his language. One could not but be struck by the freshness of his language and robustness of his thoughts. Never for him a tired word. He was cerebral. And he had those sunshine smiles and could laugh effortlessly, the later an area in which we shared credentials.

(Full tributes to both men next week as I had the deadline beaming signal).