It was a sweet home coming for the AMACOS 1992 set as selected members of the association, brought to bear their professional expertise in media relations, public relations, media ownership and management recently during a mentorship session for students in the department.
The set, that graduated at the institution that was previously named Ogun State Polytechnic, tutored the students practical aspects of public relations, advertising, print journalism, broadcast journalism and blogging to mark their 25 years post-graduation anniversary from the institution.
The programme, which had as theme: “Classroom Experience and Post-Classroom Reality,” was held at the auditorium of the Mass Communication Department.
It had in attendance were; the Rector, MAPOLY, Prof. Oludele Itiola; the Director, School of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Goke Raufu; the Head of Department, Kolawole Amos; and the Sub-Dean, Lekan Oketokun.
An alumnus and Founder, Rave FM 93.7, Osogbo, Osun State, Femi Adefila, who spoke on: “How To Become A Successful Media Entrepreneur,” told the students that the days of white-collar jobs were gone and advise them to develop the mentality of job creators.
Speaking further, Adefila urged the journalists in training to develop the “can-do spirit”, saying that all positive thinking and ideas are possible.
“You must be pregnant with ideas and deliver it. You should dream big and always think out of the box. At times, there may not even be any box,” he stated.
Debo Abdulai, Editor, Nigerian Tribune, who spoke on: “How Journalists Can Remain Relevant In Today’s Newspaper World,” noted that for a journalist to stand out, he or she must be creative and constantly seek knowledge by reading wide.
Abdulai also listed adaptability, carving a niche for oneself, taking initiatives, integrity and nurturing relationship as some of the ingredients that would make the students relevant in the media practice after leaving school.
He noted that the media industry, especially print journalism, in the country was shrinking with significant drop in circulation figures, saying that the online media remains the biggest threat.
“Your success as a journalist isn’t just dependent on the right skills and experience; it is dependent on practical demonstration of initiative. How you show initiative plays an active role in your career and it determines how far you will go in your career,” he said.
In the same vein, Dotun Oladipo, the Publisher of The Eagle Online, who spoke on online publishing, allayed the fears that online journalism might kill newspapers, arguing that newspapers would continue to survive despite the penetration of online media.
Oladipo challenge the students to start making money from their smart phones even while in school.
Adekunle Adeshina, the Vice-Chairman of AMACOS ’92, speaking on public relations practice, urged the students to dare to be different in whatever they were involved in and encouraged them to ‘Walk with confidence and engage in self improvement.”
In addition to the donation of giant generator set to the department at the end of the mentorship session, Adekunle Adams, Chairman of the set, said the association had in the past donated equipment worth over N2 million to the department.
Adams expressed the support of the set for the transformation of MAPOLY to a university of technology.
Appreciating the former students, Prof Itilola, the Rector, who was represented by Raufu, said the Department of Mass Communication was the flagship of the institution.
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