PUNCH APPOINTS NEW EDITORS, DEPUTY EDITORS

As part of a recent restructuring exercise across the company’s divisions, the board of PUNCH Nigeria Limited has announced changes in the leadership of its editorial division.

In the changes announced by the management on Friday, the Business Editor of The PUNCH, Oyetunji Abioye, was appointed the new editor of The PUNCH, in acting capacity.

The company also announced Samson Folarin, the Features Editor of the paper’s Weekend Titles (Saturday PUNCH & Sunday PUNCH) as acting Editor, Weekend Titles.

The current editor of The PUNCH, Adedayo Oketola, and Editor of the newspaper’s Weekend Titles, Sola Fabiyi, will hand over to their successors on Monday, July 22, 2024.

The board also conveyed its appreciation to the outgoing editors, Oketola and Fabiyi, noting their positive contributions to the company’s strategic objectives and wishing them well.

The company equally approved the appointment of the Editor, PUNCH SportsExtra, ‘Tana Aiyejina, to take over from Olaniyi Odebode, the Deputy Editor, The PUNCH, in acting capacity.

The company acknowledged the contributions of Odebode, who served in various capacities in PUNCH during his 31 years stint in PUNCH and wished him well.

Tessy Igomu, the current Editor, Healthwise, is to take over from Yusuff Moshood as the Deputy Editor, Weekend Titles, in acting capacity.

Moshood has been redeployed to PUNCH Digital as the Deputy Editor.

Reacting, Abioye pledged to continue to uphold PUNCH’s time-tested journalistic and corporate values. He expressed confidence that these values would enable him to effectively harness the opportunities presented by the current challenges in the media industry

“As one who has been in the system for years, I’m not a stranger to the responsibilities I’m expected to discharge. The lessons and the experience garnered over the years will readily be a compass to guide me through this journey,” Abioye stated on Friday.

A widely travelled and well-respected business journalist, he has reported and written extensively on general news, aviation, finance, money and energy.

During his time as a field journalist, Abioye, who broke several major stories in the aviation and finance sectors, earned a well-deserved reputation as a resourceful and self-driven reporter with a special knack for exclusive stories.

Abioye also had a distinguished career as a reporter, winning major awards including the Nigerian Media Merit Award Aviation Reporter of the Year (2015), National Association of Air Traffic Engineers Aviation Reporter of the Year (2013), and emerging as a runner-up in the Money Market Reporter of the Year category of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence.

He has attended key conferences and training programmes in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Abioye is also a regular at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, USA; Russia-Africa Economic Summit, International Air Transport Association Annual General Meetings and World Air Transport Summit, among others.

A graduate of Economics of Babcock University joined PUNCH in 2007 as a correspondent and rose through the ranks to become the News Editor of Saturday PUNCH. He was appointed the Group Business Editor of The PUNCH, in 2021.

He is an alumnus of the United States Government-sponsored International Visitors Leadership Programme (Financial Journalism) held in Pennsylvania, Chicago and New York; the United Kingdom Department For International Development-Sponsored Media Training; Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa; CitiBank Media Training; and the Pan Atlantic School of Communications Media Training.

Folarin, the new acting editor of the Weekend Titles, (Saturday PUNCH & Sunday PUNCH) is a graduate of Mass Communication of the University of Lagos.

He joined PUNCH as a correspondent in 2013. He was, at different times, the Metro Editor of The PUNCH; Contributing Member, PUNCH Editorial Board; and Features Editor, Weekend Titles.

Folarin is a well-garlanded investigative journalist whose career has reflected a very strong passion for human rights.

He was awarded the Investigative Reporter of the Year by the Nigeria Media Merit Award in 2018, 2020 and 2021, and was voted Print Journalist of the Year in 2019 by the NMMA. He also won the Print Category of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism in 2019 and 2020. Folarin won the maiden edition of the Lagos Reporting Category at the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence in 2014.

He has just concluded his postgraduate studies in Investigative Journalism at City University of London, United Kingdom, as a Chevening Scholar.

According to him, the sound training he has received over the years in PUNCH has prepared him for this new assignment.

“This is definitely a huge task, but I pledge to apply myself to the job to ensure that PUNCH’s ascendancy in the media industry is sustained,” says the new acting Editor, Weekend Titles,

Also, the current online editor, Olalekan Adetayo, has been redesignated the Editor, PUNCH Digital, the restructured digital operations unit that incorporates all of PUNCH’s digital publications.

Adetayo is a 2008 graduate of Journalism of the Lagos State University who joined PUNCH in 2001 as a reporter. He became a Sub-Editor in 2005.

Adetayo, who, at various times, covered crime and politics, was the State House correspondent, Abuja, before he was appointed as the Politics Editor and later promoted to Abuja Bureau Chief of PUNCH.

He rose to the post of News Editor, The PUNCH, as well as the Metro Editor of the same title. Adetayo equally served as Acting Deputy Editor, Weekend Titles.

He is a multiple award winner including emerging as the PUNCH Outstanding Employee of the Year in 2009 and the pioneer winner of the Media Integrity Award category of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (2009).

Aiyejina, a graduate of English of the Ambrose Alli University and the pioneer editor of the PUNCH Group’s sports title, is credited with the rapid growth of the title.

He joined PUNCH in 2008 as a correspondent. Aiyejina, who rose through the ranks in the organisation, currently serves as Editor, PUNCH Sports Extra as well as the Sports Editor, The PUNCH.

A widely travelled sports journalist, the new Deputy Editor is a multiple award winner, winning the Nigeria Sports Awards twice as Nigeria Sports Journalist of The Year (Print) and the Nigeria Pitch Awards for five consecutive times (Best Football Journalist of The Year) as well as being nominated for the Diamond Award for Media Excellence. He also won the AIT Sports Journalist of The Year award in 2010.

Igomu, a graduate of Mass Communication of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University joined PUNCH as a Chief Correspondent in 2020.

A well-regarded investigative journalist, she is the Editor of Healthwise, a specialised health digital publication with a strong and growing presence. She was at various times the Acting Deputy Editor, Weekend Titles; Ag. Online Editor; and Head, Investigations.

Igomu is a multiple winner of both national and continental awards, including the AFCON Prize for Environmental Reporting, Nigeria Media Merit Awards 2022; and the West Africa Journalist of the Year – WAMECA 2022 Awards (Ghana), where she emerged as the first female winner in West Africa.

Her other awards include Environmental Reporting – WAMECA 2022 Awards (Ghana); and the 2021 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism – Commendation Prize.

Moshood, a holder of a Master’s in Public Administration from Lagos State University, joined PUNCH in 2020 as a Sub-Assistant Editor in the Online Department.

He had served creditably as Acting News Editor, The PUNCH; Healthwise editor and Assistant Editor, Online at different times.

Moshood, a highly-experienced journalist and line editor, currently serves as the Acting Deputy Editor, Weekend Titles.