Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan

Oyo State Governor, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, has appointed his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, to the new and strategic role of Special Adviser, Ibadan Media City Project.

A statement by Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli, made this known in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

By this appointment, Layinka is expected to oversee the proposed transformation of Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State into formidable media, entertainment and cultural hub for South-West Nigeria.

In a related development, the SSG said that the governor has approved the appointment of an Executive Director with the Sun Newspaper, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, to take over from Layinka as Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy.

According to him, the redeployment of the governor’s former spokesman to the new project is further proof of the government’s commitment to reclaiming the state’s pioneer status as Nigeria’s leading centre of media, entertainment and culture.

Layinka, a veteran broadcaster, is being saddled with a new responsibility of transforming the corporation into a hub that would include television and radio broadcasting production studios, theme parks/resorts, hospitality centre, a media academy and hosting venue for major live events in the sub-region.

Alli had at a press conference in February stated that the ongoing reorganization in the corporation was a part of a long-term plan by the governor to transform the edifice to a leading media and entertainment hub that propels the unique Yoruba cultural heritage.

Until his new appointment, Tunji was ED, Special Duties and a member of the board of the Sun Newspapers, where he took a leave of absence to assume his new role.

An alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, the new governor’s spokesman was pioneer managing director/editor-in-chief of New Telegraph newspaper.

He began his journalism career at the Guardian newspaper in March 1993, from where he joined Daily Independent newspaper as pioneer deputy news editor in 2001 and had a meteoric rise to the position of an Editor.

Tunji also had a stint with the Daily Times before joining the defunct Comet newspaper, which later metamorphosed into The Nation Newspaper.

At the Nation, he was the pioneer editor of the Saturday title, before joining the repackaged National Mirror as pioneer Sunday Editor and later Editor of the National Mirror, the flagship of the Global Media Mirror Limited titles.

He left the National Mirror to assist in the setting up of the New Telegraph, where he served as the pioneer MD/EIC, before being appointed as the ED, special duties of Sun Newspaper.