Grandeur as Samson Osagie, Tunde Olusunle bag PhD in Political Economy and Media Arts respectively

A former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie has bagged a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Economy and Development Studies.

Also, one of Nigeria’s brilliant journalists, who is also a poet, author, and member of the Nigeruan Guild of Editors, Tunde Olusunle, bagged his PhD in Media Arts many years after completing the graduation prerequisites.

Both Osagie and Olusunle were among other students who were on Friday, February 25, 2022 awarded the PhD degree at the convocation of the University of Abuja. Other students were awarded the Bachelor and Master’s degrees on the occasion.

▪︎ Dr Samson Osagie

Advertisement

Osagie is an experienced legal practitioner, arbitrator, mediator and motary public with a demonstrated skill in providing professional services to a wide range of clientele including Commercial, Financial and investment organizations (Foreign and Local), in addition to being involved in a number of Corporate, and Intellectual Property Law transactions and Litigation.

He also possesses a robust experience and knowledge of the Legislative processes with which he has continued to offer services as Consultant to both National and State Legislatures on measures aimed at strengthening their capacities to enact legislations that meet the dynamic needs of the society and assist them carry out effective legislative oversights.

He is a Resource Person/Lecturer at the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies(NILDS)/ University of Benin Post Graduate Programmes.

Osagie is a Governance and Development Consultant to development partners such as the International Republican Institute (IRI), Konrad-Adrenauer-Stiftung(KAS) foundation, United Kingdom Department For International Development (UK-DFID) and United States Agency For International Development (USAID) on Constitutional and Electoral reforms in Nigeria and Africa.

He is a member of various professional bodies such as the Nigerian Bar Association, Chairman Africa Bar Association (Nigerian Forum), Institute of Chartered Mediators and Concilliators and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators ( United Kingdom).

▪︎ Dr Tunde Olusunle

Olusunle, who studied English for his first and second degrees at the University of Ilorin, graduating in 1985 and 1989, respectively, has had a long and eventful working career. Beginning as a classroom teacher in the employ of the erstwhile Kwara State Education Management Board in 1986, he launched a career in journalism at the Daily Times, in 1990. He served variously in the features department, special reports and the Editorial Board of the newspaper, respectively. He was a columnist who also sustained a regular weekly interview series, “Dialogue this Week.” He also had stints in Kogi State as Director of Information and Public Affairs (1992 to 1993) and Director of Press Affairs (1995 to 1997), during which he served under the administrations of the late Prince Abubakar Audu; Colonel Paul Omeruo, and the late Colonel Bzigu Lassa Afakirya, respectively.

He functioned as Campaign Press Secretary to Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, in his quest for the presidency, beginning from the last quarter of 1998. He was subsequently appointed into the Obasanjo administration in 1999 and functioned in several capacities, including national orientation, media and special duties. A profound and conscientious writer, Olusunle authored “On the Trail of History: A Reporter’s Notebook on Olusegun Obasanjo,” (2006), which provides rare insights into the true essence of the man, in multivalent capacities. He has also published three well received volumes of poetry titled: “Fingermarks,”  (1996); “Rhythm of the Mortar” (2001) and “A Medley of Echoes” (2022). His several seminal contributions, notably academic papers, to a broad array of national and international journals, books and festschrifts, reveal the deep-thinking scholar in him.

He is a member of several professional associations, including the: National Union of Journalists, (NUJ); Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, (NIPR) and the Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA). He is also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE) and the Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria, (ACSPN). He has functioned on the Editorial Board of Leadership newspaper and has been the Chairman of the People and Politics magazine, for almost a decade now. He is very widely travelled, having aggregated about three dozen countries, across all the continents of the world.