Ololade Adeyanju/
Chairman of African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of the Nigerian Tribune, Ambassador (Dr.) Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu has accepted the invitation to serve as Mother of the Day at the 8th Penpushing Media Anniversary and Annual Lecture scheduled for July 23, 2026, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta.
Chairperson of the anniversary lecture planning committee, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, disclosed this while speaking with journalists, adding that Awolowo-Dosunmu has also confirmed that she will attend the event in person.
Akiyode-Afolabi said this year’s lecture, themed “Restoring Electoral Integrity: The Path to Good Governance and Public Accountability,” will be delivered by renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, while four distinguished intellectuals will serve as panelists to enrich discussions on the critical national issue.
Responding to the invitation, Awolowo-Dosunmu commended the Editorial Board and Planning Committee of Penpushing Media, publishers of Penpushing Online Newspaper and Penpushing Television, for sustaining an intellectually engaging platform that contributes meaningfully to national development and public discourse.
A distinguished physician, diplomat, administrator and public affairs advocate, Awolowo-Dosunmu has played pivotal roles in Nigeria’s political, constitutional and institutional development.
She was a nominated member of the Constituent Assembly (1988–1989), where she served as Vice-Chairman of Committee Four, which drafted the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy for Nigeria’s proposed Constitution.
In 1992, she co-founded the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, a non-profit and non-partisan organisation established in memory of her father, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to promote research, leadership and ideas for national development. She has continued to serve as the Foundation’s Executive Director and Co-founder.
Awolowo-Dosunmu also served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands between January 2000 and July 2003. During her diplomatic assignment, she was concurrently accredited as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), where she occupied several strategic international positions, including Vice-Chairman of the Conference of States Parties, Member of the Executive Council, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Council (Administration and Finance), Vice-Chairman of the First Review Conference and Chairman of the African Group of States Parties.
She was equally accredited to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) before returning to medical practice as an Occupational Health Physician while continuing her leadership role at the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation.
Her public service credentials also include serving as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, from April 2013 to June 2015. She was also one of the 15 delegates representing the South-West at the 2014 National Constitutional Conference, where she served on the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government.
Following the passing of the matriarch of the Awolowo family, Chief (Mrs.) H.I.D. Awolowo, in September 2015, she assumed the leadership of African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc as Co-Chairman and later became Chairman of the Board on January 1, 2018.
Beyond journalism and public service, Awolowo-Dosunmu has served on several corporate, educational and non-governmental boards, including the Governing Council of the Lagos State College of Science and Technology, the Board of Dideolu Specialist Hospital, the UNIFEM National Advisory Board (Nigeria), the Board of Trustees of the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC), Benin City, and as First Vice-President of CIVITAS Nigeria.
A respected church leader and community figure, she is the Iya Ewe of Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne, and Asiwaju Obinrin Onigbagbọ of Ogun State.
Her outstanding contributions to public service, healthcare, women’s development and nation-building have earned her numerous honours, including the Outstanding Contribution to Human Development Award by NAWOJ, Outstanding Role Model Award by Youth Focus Initiative, the Kwame Nkrumah Award for Service to Pan-Africanism, the Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna Platinum Distinguished Leadership Award, recognition for her contributions to the Anglican Church during the 106th Anniversary of Archbishop Vining Theological College, and an award by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Her acceptance as Mother of the Day further adds prestige to what is expected to be one of the country’s leading public policy conversations on electoral reforms, governance and democratic accountability.
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