Nobody roughened me up. Nobody also robbed me. But death “did me bad.” It suddenly snatched Dotun Oladipo, managing editor and founder of The Eagle Online, one of the best and leaders in online journalism in our country and a former president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).
To know Dotun is to know peace. To have Dotun in your team is also to have victory. Just share your feelings/thoughts/burdens with him and watch him carry them with smiles on his shoulder. And guess what: he won’t rest until victory is won.
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I became fairly close to him after I joined GOCOP. And till death came calling on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, in a very, very shocking manner, “he carried my matter on his head.”
He did quite a lot, but I will share just one experience – and this happened at the Zenith Bank branch in Ogba, Lagos about a month ago. I had an issue to resolve inside the bank, and because his office wasn’t too far away, I called him to ask if he could be of assistance.
He explained that he was at home, fairly far away from where I was. I terminated the call. But he called back immediately, asking me to calm down and explain what happened to him. When I finished, he asked me to wait for him at the bank.
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Meanwhile he had inadvertently allowed it to slip that he was getting ready for an appointment on the island when my unexpected call altered his program.
Long story short – he made it to the bank ultimately and in a jiffy helped to sort out the issue before heading to his appointment.
As minor as this may seem to some people, it taught me another lesson in selflessness, which Dotun epitomized all through his life.
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I saw him last on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja GRA, Lagos. Both of us were there for the second edition of my friend, Olumide Iyanda’s Creative Powerhouse Summit.
As soon as I sighted the workaholic hitting hard on his laptop, tucked in a corner of the hall, to avoid any form of distraction, I went for the exchange of our always-warm pleasantries.
I have been reminiscing on that short memory ever since the unpleasant news of his death reached me.
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And even as I cried in my bed last night; and after visiting his home very early today to condole with his wife and children. I will continue to hold on to that memory of him.
Fondly called Emeritus by many of us, especially in GOCOP, Dotun was loved by many. My prayer is that the Lord rests his gentle soul.
The Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metro, led by President Rotarian Emeka Nwosu, will begin a four-day vision and hearing screening for Primary One pupils across 10 public primary schools in Lagos Island, Lagos State, on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, under a Rotary International Global Grant project chaired by Rotarian Oladimeji Olatunji-Audu for the club.
The Rotary Ikoyi Metro screening, which runs until Friday, September 25, will commence at 9 a.m. daily, with Holy Cross Cathedral Primary School, Campus, serving as the venue.
The Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board has formally approved the exercise for pupils in the 10 selected schools within the Lagos Island Local Government Education Authority.
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In its September 9 approval, LASUBEB described the intervention as a “noble gesture” complementing the Lagos State Government’s efforts to improve basic education.
The participating schools are Holy Cross Cathedral Primary School, Ade Oshodi Primary School, Anglican Girls Primary School, Christ Cathedral Primary School, and Ebute Elefun Primary School.
Others include Edward Blyden Memorial School, St. David Primary School, St. Mary Convent School, St. Peter Primary School and Tinubu Methodist Primary School.
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Nwosu said the intervention was built around a simple concern: children experiencing difficulties in the classroom should not be written off before possible health-related causes are investigated.
“Sometimes, what looks like a learning problem may simply be a child struggling to see the board clearly or hear what the teacher is saying. Through this project, we want to identify those challenges early and give affected children the opportunity to learn and thrive alongside their peers,” Nwosu said.
The project is being implemented in partnership with other Rotary clubs through the Rotary International Global Grant mechanism, combining resources and expertise to address preventable vision and hearing difficulties among schoolchildren.
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The cub’s project chairman said the initiative was designed to go beyond simply identifying pupils with difficulties.
“Screening is only meaningful when it leads to action. Our objective is to identify children who require attention early enough and ensure that those who need further intervention are appropriately supported. A child’s ability to see and hear properly can make a remarkable difference to the child’s confidence and performance in school,” Olatunji-Audu said.
The Lagos Island exercise follows an earlier phase of the wider Global Grant project launched in July 2026, when hundreds of pupils from public primary schools in the Ikoyi-Obalende area underwent vision and hearing screening.
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The broader intervention has brought together Rotary clubs and partners in Nigeria and overseas.
The World Health Organization has also identified vision and hearing as important to children’s development and education, noting that unaddressed sensory impairments can have significant consequences for school-age children.
For Ikoyi Metro, the four-day intervention therefore carries a powerful message beyond the medical screenings: before concluding that a young pupil is struggling to learn, it may be necessary to establish whether that child can clearly see the lesson and hear the teacher.
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