Team lead of Platforms Africa, Adeola Yusuf, was on Wednesday decorated as the Distinguished Journalism Entrepreneur of the Year 2024.
Rector of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Dr. Adeoye Odedeji, who decorated the serial award winner at the maiden edition of the Made In MAPOLY Distinguished Entrepreneurs Awards, declared that Adeola Yusuf, who was his best student over 20 years ago, has demonstrated that hardwork and diligence have good results.
“He was my student, and I can confirm that he was brilliant then. He was my best student, and I am happy that today he had distinguished himself in the area of Journalism. He is a journalist that is employing other journalists today through the art of entrepreneurship in Journalism,” Adeoye said.
“His Platforms Africa, a reputable online newspapers with distinct approach to reporting, is now among those leading the pack in Nigeria, and across the continent today,” Coordinator, Training, Extension Services and Consultancy of the MAPOLY Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (MAPCED), Mr. Olufemi Orunsola, added.
11 other alumni of the school who have distinguished themselves in various skills and areas of call were recognised for the prestigious award.
The list includes Mobile Classroom Limited App Founder, Akeem Salami; Renowned Broadcasters, Doyin Kukoyi, Adeyinka Adegbite Omo Baba Tisa, and Ayinde Soaga; and Legal Luminary, Barr. Abdul-Hafeez Atanda-Shoremi.
Others are the Special Adviser to Ogun Gov, Olamide Lawal; Serial entrepreneur, Bola Solate-Ayedun; Realtor Olamide Quadri; Taxation Expert, Korede Lawal; and successful make up/make over beautician, Igwe Sylvester Theresa.
PROFILE OF ADEOLA YUSUF
Adeola Yusuf is presently the Team Lead of Platforms Africa, publisher of www.platformsafrica.com, a leading media and leadership group in Africa, with a particular focus on news and issues about development – Health, Education, and Energy.
An investigative journalist of repute, Adeola Yusuf, has, at the global stage and within Nigeria, won many journalism awards, fellowships, bursaries, and recognitions.
He is the winner of the first-ever prestigious award of excellence for a journalist by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in 2013. In 2016, he won the African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC) Bursary Award, which took him to The Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa. He was in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2017 as a winner of the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJN-A’s) Bursary on tax evasion and illicit finance reporting in Africa.
A serial winner of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) as Best Journalist (Oil/Gas and Energy categories), Yusuf has won over 10 nominations taking home the gong for the year 2015, 2017, and 2019 editions of the country’s most prestigious media award.
Yusuf has also, on two occasions, been picked from the pool of entries for The Thomson Reuters Foundation Scheme on Illicit Trade and Finance Reporting in Africa held in Kampala, Uganda, 2015 and 2016.
He won the 2021 Best Story category of the Chevron/Pan-Atlantic University AWARES Alumni Award.
He has, in line of duty as a journalist, travelled to some of the major cities in the world for conferences, seminars, and workshops. He was in London, United Kingdom (UK), for the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) conference (2011). He has, on many occasions, travelled to Houston, Texas, the acclaimed oil and gas capital of the World for Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). He also attended a conference of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), among others.
He is a sought-after financial and energy (oil, gas, power, renewables) policy analyst who is a regular face on News Central TV, Channels Television, Arise TV, TV Continental, Lagos Television (LTV), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Ogun State Television, Radio One, Women Radio, Mainland FM as well as Radio Lagos/Eko FM.
Adeola Yusuf was the overall best graduating student at the ND, HND, and BSc., in an academic sojourn that covered the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta (MAPOLY), and The Crescent University Abeokuta (CUAB) where he studied Mass Communication in 2003, 2005 and 2013 respectively. He graduated as one of the best MSc students at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in 2015.
His journalism experience spanned the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), The Monitor Newspaper, Ogun State Television (OGTV), The SUN newspapers, The Week Magazine, Daily Independent Newspaper, New Telegraph Newspaper, and Platforms Africa.
A PhD. candidate at the Lagos State University (LASU), Adeola Yusuf also lectures Specialized News Writing and Online Journalism at the Lagos State University of Technology (LASUSTECH), and the Eko City Polytechnic (EKOCITY) in Lagos.
He is a member of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP); the Nigerian Association of Energy Correspondents/Editors (NAEC); Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN); and the Thomson Reuters Foundation Wealth of Nations (WoN).