Ajimobi appoints Tunji, The Sun’s Executive Director as spokesman

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has appointed Mr. Bolaji Tunji as special adviser, Communication and Strategy.  

He takes over from Mr. Yomi Layinka, who has been re-assigned as special adviser, Ibadan Media City Project.

A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Olalekan Alli, conveyed the governor’s decision, on Wednesday.

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

 Alli had, at a press conference in February, stated that the ongoing re-organisation of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) is 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 the executive director, 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 the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, the new governor’s spokesman was the pioneer managing director/editor-in-chief of the 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 Editor.

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

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.

He left the National Mirror to assist in the setting up of the New Telegraph, where he served as the pioneer MD/EIC. Tunji is married and is blessed with children.       

Layinka, a veteran broadcaster, is being saddled with a new responsibility of transforming BCOS 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.