Chief Segun Olusola Dies at 77

Culture aficionado and the patriarch of Nigerian culture, Chief Segun Olusola passed on today Thursday June 21, 2012. A hyperactive culture activist, he suffered a brief illness until today. Born March 18, 1935, and living a life full of activities in the entire culture sector and other branches of endeavour, he passed on at 77. Chief Segun Olusola will be remembered from four fronts. First is the Arts and Culture (he was an actor, playwright and a founding member of The Players of the Dawn, an amateur theatre outfit that held sway until 1959, prior to the emergence of the 1960 Masks, a more professional theatre outfit established by Prof. Wole Soyinkna. He was an art connoisseur whose family gallery, Ajibulu-Moniya Gallery transformed into a full-blown commercial gallery open to public to date. In Broadcasting, he became the first African television broadcaster when television debuted in Africa with its first transmission in Nigeria at the WNTV, Ibadan in 1959. In Diplomacy, he was the longest-serving Ambassador of Nigeria to Ethiopia (1987 - 1993). He was reputed as a Culture Ambassador who employed the instrumentalities and functionalities of arts and culture to drive Diplomacy. In Humanitarian circle, he was moved by his experiences as a diplomat when he dealt with many critical refugee issues, to eventually found the African Refugees Foundation in 1993 shortly after his service as Ambassador. He is survived by wife, children and grandchildren