The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Premium Eagle Media Limited, Dotun Oladipo, has died at the age of 56. The company owns the online news platform Eagle Online.

His death was announced on the Eagle Online website early on Wednesday. Colleagues said he was in his usual state of health earlier in the day before he suddenly took ill at his office. The sudden nature of his passing came as a shock to friends, associates and fellow journalists.

Danlami Nmodu, President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, confirmed the news on the guild’s platform. Oladipo was a former president of the group. The General Secretary of the Innovative Media Partners Cooperative Multipurpose Society, Nkanu Egbe, also announced the loss, describing it as a devastating blow to Nigerian journalism.

Oladipo had a journalism career that spanned nearly three decades. He previously worked as politics editor at Punch Newspapers and also served with Nigerian Tribune, Nigerian Compass and The Sun before founding Eagle Online.

He graduated with a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta, in 1992. Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced later, while colleagues and friends continue to pay tribute to his contributions to digital journalism in Nigeria.

Photo credit: Punch Newspaper