Founder of The Eagle Online and President Emeritus of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP),Dotun Oladipo is dead.
He was aged 56.
Oladipo reportedly took ill on Tuesday evening while on his way to a meeting.
According to accounts surrounding his final moments, the media executive was at his office when he began experiencing health complications. He subsequently decided to drive himself to the hospital, but reportedly developed a complication on his way.
He contacted his doctor by phone with the help of someone nearby. Efforts by the doctor to revive him were unsuccessful.
His death came as a major shock to his friends, colleagues and associates, particularly because there had been no obvious sign earlier in the day that he was facing a serious health crisis.
It was gathered that Oladipo had visited the gym with his wife earlier on Tuesday before returning to his regular activities.
He also remained active on social media throughout the day, with his last known post reportedly published at about 2:50pm, just a few hours before the news of his death started spreading among friends and professional colleagues
A pioneer of organised online publishing in Nigeria, Oladipo launched The Eagle Online in January 2011. He was also instrumental in the founding of GOCOP in 2013, then known as the Nigerian Online Publishers Association.
He served as GOCOP’s second President from 2017 to 2021, completing two consecutive two-year terms before handing over to Maureen Chigbo, publisher of Realnews, in October 2021.
He remained active in the guild and was named President Emeritus and Chairman of its Ombudsman/Disciplinary Committee at the 2024 conference, where he also presented a paper on website optimisation for online news platforms.
In October 2024, he was inaugurated as pioneer President of the Innovative Media Partners Cooperative Multipurpose Society, IMPCMS, by the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment.
His death has thrown journalism community, especially the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP into mourning as they continue to pay tribute to a man many described as a team builder and strategist.
GOCOP President, Danlami Nmodu, mni, confirmed the tragic news on the guild’s WhatsApp platform Tuesday night.
The GOCOP President wrote:
“Very Sad Announcement
“Sad, very sad news.It has just been confirmed that Emeritus President, Mr Dotun Oladipo, died today.
“May his soul rest in peace..Amen”
