Ex- presidential aide Remi Oyo dies at 61

The late Mrs. Oyo

Journalism has lost one of its jewels, with the death in Britain of  former presidential aide Mrs Oluremi Oyo. She was 61.

The immediate past Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) passed on Wednesday while receiving treatment for cancer-related ailment.

Oyo was the media adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo between 2003 and 2007.

Her death was announced in a statement by her husband, Mr. Vincent Oyo yesterday.

It reads: “With gratitude to God for a life well spent, I regret to announce the death of my dear wife, Dame Felicia Oluwaremilekun Oyo. She died peacefully on Wednesday (October 1, 2014) in the United Kingdom where she was receiving treatment for a cancer-related ailment.

“Dame Oyo was a seasoned journalist who began her journalism career in 1973 in the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation now known as the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

“She joined the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as a Desk Editor in 1981, and left in 1985 as Editor, the first woman to attain such a high position in the Agency.

“After leaving NAN, she joined the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) as the Nigerian Bureau Chief. She later became the international news agency’s West African Bureau Chief.

“Having first served as Secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Dame Oyo was elected President of the Guild for two consecutive tenures from 1999 to 2003. She was the first woman to be so honoured.

“As President of the Guild, she set up a functional secretariat which still exists today at the NAN complex in Iganmu, Lagos. She also ensured capacity building for Editors through regular training which she pioneered for the Guild.

“She was appointed Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 and served in that capacity until the end of the President’s tenure in May 2007.

“This appointment was also a first as she was the first woman to hold that position in the history of the country. Dame Oyo was thereafter appointed the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria in July 2007. During her tenure, she improved the fortunes of the Agency and increased its clientele.

 ”A committed and patriotic Nigerian, whose friends cut across the length and breadth of the country, Mrs. Oyo put Nigeria first in her private and official activities.

“Born into a Catholic family, Dame Oyo had her primary education at the St. James’ Catholic Primary School in Ilorin, where she grew up. She attended the prestigious St. Louis Girls Secondary School, Bompai, Kano and had her higher education in Lagos and Britain.

“A devout Catholic, Dame Oyo was a former Vice Chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council of SS Joachim and Anne of the Catholic Church, Ijegun, Lagos.

“Dame Oyo, who had a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Canterbury at Kent, also earned a post-graduate Diploma in International Relations from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.

“In recognition of her patriotism, the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, appointed her as a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee to craft the constitution that ushered in the present democratic dispensation in 1999.

“A recipient of Nigeria’s National honour, the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), Dame Oyo also earned many other awards among which was the National Council of Catholic Women Organisation of Nigeria merit award.

“She was Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), and the Nigerian Institute of Public Administrators.

“On January 7, 2011, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI made her a Papal Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Dame Oyo and I were blessed with two children, Otome and Okiemuote who are married and have given us beautiful grandchildren.

“She was born on October 12, 1952. Members of her family and her large circle of friends and well-wishers were looking forward to her 62nd birthday come October 12. She is survived by her husband, Vincent, her children, grand-children and siblings - Sunday Oke and Yomi Oke.”

President Goodluck Jonathan led tributes to her. Governors, ministers and other categories of public officers and Nigerians from all walks of life joined the media in mourning Mrs Oyo

The Newspapers Proprietors of Nigeria (NPAN) in a statement addressed to the Nigerian Guild of Editors President Femi Adesina titled Remi Oyo: we mourn, said the NPAN received the news of her death with shock.

The NPAN described her as “a woman of many firsts.” She was the first woman to be elected President of NGE, the first woman to be appointed presidential spokesman and the firast woman to be made Managing Director of NAN.

According to the NPAN, “she accomplished the difficult tasks therein effectively with grace and professionalism.”

It regretted that her death came at a time the organisation was coming to terms with the death of The Sun Vice Chairman Dimgba Igwe.

“Her death through cancer underscores how this silent killer has eaten deep into the fabric of our healthcare system.

“It is on record that Nigerians spend aboput $200m abroad annually on medicals in their bid to fight this silent killer which four years ago overtook heart disease oa number one killer of mankind”, the statement added.

Delta State governorship aspirant Tony Obuh, expressed shock over Mrs Oyo’s death.

Obuh who described Oyo as one of the most eminent Nigerian journalists lamented that she died too soon, noting that she served the country selflessly.

“Remi Oyo was a special person who would be deeply missed and be always remembered as a hardworking and dependable professional. As we all mourn her, we should also have it at the back of our minds that she lived a purposeful life in defence of the truth and public interest as well as the promotion of the highest standards in her chosen profession of journalism,” Obuh said.

He prayed God to give her husband and her children the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

“Although no words can take away the pain of the family over the loss of Remi, I want the family to know that our hearts and thoughts are with them in this moment of grief,” he said.

Obuh also commiserated with the NGE.