A former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency (LASAA) and a journalist, Mr. Mobolaji Sanusi has commiserated with the management of The Nation Newspapers over the shocking demise of one of its staff, Mrs Yetunde Oladeinde.
It was gathered that the late senior journalist who reported Fashion/Women for the weekend edition of The Nation breathed her last on Monday after a sudden illness.
Her death has been greeted with a deluge of condolences from journalist-alike and notable individuals across the state.
It was gathered that The management and staff of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation Newspapers, Tuesday visited the family of the late Oladeinde at Oladeinde Crescent, Onibudo, in Akute area of Ogun State.
The team was received by the widower, Michael Oladeinde, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), the children and some family members.
She was 56.
According to her daughter, Dr. Busola Oladeinde, she took ill at home in the early hours of Monday and suddenly became unconscious before she was rushed to the hospital.
On getting to the hospital, she was declared Brought-in-Dead (BID).
She is survived by her husband and children.
Speaking during the visit, The Nation’s Weekend Editor, Mr. Festus Eriye, described the late journalist as hardworking without gender inhibitions.
“On behalf of the management, the staff, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (The Nation Chapel) and colleagues of the late Yetunde, whom we all call Grandma, we want to say that we share your pain as a family. Yetunde was more than a colleague: she was our sister and a jolly friend. She was a live of the newsroom. Whenever she was around, there was laughter. Her uniqueness is that she was very hardworking.
“As her editor, I have worked with a lot of women who always gave different excuses on the job, but I never had Yetunde complain about any assignment or work because of her gender. Today is a day to let you know that we share your pain.
“She had an impact on her colleagues, and that is why people are together here today to sympathise with her family. I pray that the Lord comforts you (husband), her children, and the entire family. Very soon, there will be laughter in this family.”
The Chairman of The Nation Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Gboyega Alaka, described Oladeinde’s death as shocking.
He said: “When I heard about her death, for the first time since my mother departed this world some decades ago, I cried. That is because we didn’t expect her to go so soon. In fact, death was not anywhere around her because we worked together on Saturdays.
“We loved ‘Grandma’ because she was lovable. When she was in the newsroom, she made people laughed. We console you, as well as we console ourselves. We would hold on to her caring and lovable memory. I pray that God grant her eternal rest.”
Separately, Sanusi described the late Oladeinde as a quintessential journalist who gave her best to the profession.
He recalled his times with the deceased at The National Life Newspaper when he was the Editor and Late Oladeinde served as Editor of the Women’s Desk where he always enjoyed reading her reports on fashion and women. Oladeinde knew her onions and worked with minimal supervision.
He condoled with the management of the newspaper as well as her family and other associates as he prayed for the repose of the deceased.
“I received the news of Oladeinde’s death with rude shock, one which I’m yet to fully recover from. She was a thorough-bred journalist who devoted her time and all to adding value to journalism. She was a mother of all in the newsroom, very gentle and unassuming. I will miss reading her exquisite reports and articles on fashion. May her soul rest in peace and I wish her family, colleagues and other loved ones the fortitude to bear her demise,” Sanusi sadly expressed.
Until her exit, Oladeinde, who graduated from University of Lagos (UNILAG) with B.Ed in English and Literature in 1989, also had a Post-Graduate Diploma at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in 1999.
She worked in different media houses for over three decades.
The late Mrs. Oladeinde began her journalism journey in 1992 at Concord Press of Nigeria where she was a Staff Writer. She joined Classique magazine as an Assistant Woman Editor in 1995.
In 1996, she worked as a Chief Correspondent for Weekend Concord, and after two years, was promoted to National Concord as Assistant Woman Editor.
The late Mrs. Oladeinde was the Editor, Life and Style desk at The Sun in 2002 and joined the defunct National LIFE in 2008. Shortly after, she moved to The Nation newspapers where she worked until her death.
