EXCLUSIVE DETAILS OF FORMER PUNCH CHAIRMAN, AJIBOLA OGUNSOLA'S 70TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Last Monday, July 14, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola, former chairman of The Punch, turned 70. To mark the event, a two-in-one celebration will hold this Sunday, July 20, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island. There will be a breakfast session and this will then be followed by the party proper. 

Ogunsola and wife, Iyabode

Presently, a delegate at the ongoing National Conference, Ogunsola is the first Actuarial scientist in Nigeria. His is the story of a man who has been defined by one of the offices he has held: chairmanship of Punch. Ogunsola played a key role in the revival of The Punch, one of the country’s leading newspapers. He took over the position of chairman as a family responsibility turning the paper which in the mid eighties in death throes into one of the country’s successful newspaper business. 
For those who are unfamiliar with the history of Punch, it may be forgiven if you feel the story of the paper has always been rosy and rich. Founded in 1973 by the late Chief Olu Aboderin, the elder half-brother to Ogunsola, the newspaper had a fairy tale rise when it started. But that success was cut short a few years later and when the founder died in 1984, his elder brother, Moyo, invested heavily in the company and took over as chairman. He did not last long at the helm as he died in 1987, but by one of those ironies of which fate is never tired, it was the destiny of Ogunsola that seemed tied to that of the company in a strange and intriguing manner.
Ogunsola once held the strings at Nicon and Niger Insurance and he was once the President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN). For an unbiased interrogator, Ogunsola has contributed more to journalism. He holds the chieftaincy of Baa Royin (Chief Newsman) of Ibadan land.