The publisher of Parrot Xtra Magazine, Olayinka Agboola has been honoured by the Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) with the ‘Pride of Journalism’ award.
The award ceremony was part of the activities staged by Oyo NUJ to mark this year’s World Press Freedom Day.
In his welcome address to kick-start the event which was held at the Press Center, Iyaganku, Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, Comrade Ademola Babalola, the chairman of the council admonished journalists to always adhere to safety measures even while carrying out their constitutionally assigned roles.
Others who got honoured at the event included Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s aides, Chief Dotun Sanusi of Ilaji Sports Resort, and Mrs Bolatito Joseph, FRCN’s Zonal Director in Ibadan.
While speaking after he received his award, Agboola, who is also the present Chairman of South West Group of Online Publishers (SWEGOP) tasked Nigerian journalists with the need to develop a passion for what they do add that this will further propel them to be more creative and result oriented.
Olayinka Agboola was born on May 5, 1965, in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State. He attended ICC Primary School, Agugu before proceeding to Lagelu Grammar School, in the same vicinity before attending the University of Ibadan where he got his two degrees in Archaeology/History.
He also attended the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos where he got his post-graduate diploma in Journalism in 1996.
He worked with the defunct Fame Weekly Magazine, Thisday Newspaper, Ovation International Magazine, Daily Sketch and Nigerian Tribune. He served Governor Lam Adesina as Press Secretary and after leaving government 19 years ago, he established Prokonnect Ltd and has since been using the platform to publish Parrot Xtra Magazine as well as the online platform, PMParrot.com
Agboola equally runs Parrot Xtra (Ayekooto) Hour live on the popular Splash 105.5fm radio station every Tuesday morning.
He is married to Oluwatoyin and blessed with wonderful children.
