Mr. Bolawole hails from Owo, Ondo State; attended Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Owo (1962 – 1967); All Saints Modern School, Owo (1968 – 1969); Owo High School, Owo (1970 – 1974).
He taught briefly as an auxiliary teacher at Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo (1976 – 1978) before enrolling at Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa for his Higher School Certificate in 1978.
He sat for the inaugural JAMB examination same year and earned admission into the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife in August 1978, graduating in 1982 with B. A (Hons.) degree in History/Political Science.
BOLAWOLE had his NYSC at the University of Ibadan, 1982/1983 and enrolled for his Master’s degree in the same university graduating in 1985 with M.Sc. degree in Political Science.
He is currently a Ph. D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos and Visiting Lecturer at Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos.
BOLAWOLE started his professional career as a journalist at the Ibadan-based Sketch Press Limited in November 1985 as a Senior Reporter.
In March 1987, he crossed over to the Lagos-based PUNCH newspapers. At the PUNCH, BOLAWOLE held various Editorial, leadership and management positions including Assistant News Editor; Features Editor;
Editor of all the PUNCH titles – THE PUNCH, Saturday PUNCH, Sunday PUNCH and TOPLIFE newsmagazine (published underground during the Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha military dictatorship).
BOLAWOLE braved harassment, intimidation and eventual arrest and detention for refusing to compromise his principled stand on the June 12, 1993 election annulled by the Babangida administration.
BOLAWOLE rose to the position of Chairman, Editorial Board/Deputy Editor-in-Chief before leaving the PUNCH in December 1998.
In 2006, he was appointed Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the Westerner newsmagazine.
BOLAWOLE has covered events in every state of the federation, West/North Africa and Europe: Such assignments include the OAU, ECOWAS, and Franco-African summits; Organisation of African Trade Union Unity; Hamburg Trade Fair; Lufthansa Air International Press Conference, Frankfurt; among others.
BOLAWOLE has met and reported world leaders such as Lady Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the UK; Nicephore Soglo, president of Benin Republic; Gnassingbe Eyadema, president of Togo; freedom fighters such as Sam Nujoma (later the first Black president of Namibia), ANC leaders Oliver Tambo and Alfred Nzo; Madiba Nelson Mandela (first Black president of South Africa): Mohamed Abdelaziz, erstwhile leader of the POLISARIO Front, among others.
He was guest of the German Government in the aftermath of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989/90.
BOLAWOLE was a member of the media team that accompanied the then NLC president Paschal Bafyau to the December 1990 Organisation of African Trade Union Unity conference hosted in Tripoli by the Libyan strongman, Moummar Gadaffi.
BOLAWOLE has been published in many Nigerian newspapers – The Guardian, Sketch, The PUNCH, The Westerner, Sunday Tribune, Daily Newswatch, the Independent, New Telegraph newspaper, among others.
He has maintained his “On the Lord’s Day” column in the Sunday Tribune since 2006 and the “Treasures” column in the New Telegraph newspaper since 2016, both of which are syndicated online.
In 1979, BOLAWOLE was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of his Alma mater, Owo High School, Owo. In 2006, he was appointed Director, Media and Publicity for the Mohamed Buba Marwa Presidential Campaign Organisation. In 2011, he was appointed member of the Presidential Inauguration Committee (Media sub-committee) for the inauguration of the president-elect, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
In 2021, he was awarded the Distinguished Great Ife Alumnus Award by his Alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University.
In 2022, he was appointed spokesperson for the Udom Emmanuel Presidential Campaign Organisation.
A full pastor in The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Bolawole is married to Funsho and the union is blessed with children.
We are honored and glad to have Mr. Bolawole in Matto Circle.
Thanks
Moderator Matto
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