Akinola Owolabi, the Director of News and Current Affairs (Television) had his first degree from the University of Ilorin, where he won the institution’s Undergraduate Scholarship Awards in 1988/89 and 1990/1991 academic sessions. The feat earned him the title of UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR conferred on him by the University’s Senate. He also emerged as the best graduating student of his department in 1991.
A master’s degree holder in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan, Akinola took to Broadcast Journalism a little over three decades ago.
In the course of duty, he had worked as a reporter. Governor’s Office Correspondent, news editor, as well as current affairs and sports programmes presenter. He had conducted interviews with who is who in the political circle, including governors, members of state, and federal cabinets, lawmakers at state and federal levels among whom were Deputy Senate Presidents as well as speakers of states and national assembly, former Vice President and ex-Heads of State, Diplomats, captains of industry, academic eggheads, top bureacrats, religious leaders, traditional rulers, human and civil rights activists. He is known to have introduced a number of current affairs programmes and repackaged, with fresh ideas and innovations, the news contents of OSBC TV since taking over as the director. Professional assignments had taken him to a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East. He has won a number of awards in his professional career.
Akinola attended seminars, workshops, and other trainings organised by the BBC, World Service Trust, International Republican Institute, IRI, U. S. Consulate-General, National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, Nigerian Press Council, NPC, and International Institute of Journalism, among others.
A prolific writer credited with a number of “Newstalk” write-up on OSBC Radio that had been cited in some scholarly works, Akinola has articles published in local and international journals right from his Undergraduate days. He is an experienced author and a biographer.
Akinola is a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and Society of Nigeria Broadcasters. His hobbies are reading, writing, and traveling. He is a family man, blessed with God-fearing wife and children.
