Seraph Dayo Oketola appointed as Punch Editor

A member of the Cherubim and Seraphim Bible Ministries, Seraph Dayo Oketola, has been appointed as the Editor of The Punch Newspaper.

The management of the Newspaper announced the appointment on Tuesday. 

Seraph Oketola is a member of Seraphs Media and a supporter and adviser of Adura International Magazine.

Oketola is currently the Weekend Editor, editing both Saturday and Sunday Punch and his new appointment will take effect from Monday April 4, this year.

In a chat with Seraph Stories, the award winning media personnel, expressed gratitude to God for the unending Grace and Mercy he enjoys in his career as a journalist.

While stating that the race is not for the swift nor the battle for the strong, he ascribed the success of his new appointment to God of Moses Orimolade, whom he described as 'undubitable'.

His words: "To Him who is able to do, exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

"Indeed, the race is not for the swift nor the battle for the strong. I have continually enjoyed the Grace and Mercy of God. At this point, I can only return all the praise and adoration to His Holy Name.

"The God of Orimolade remains indubitable. I am honoured today because I have a Father who never fails. The God of Seraphs is God Indeed. This good tiding continues among Seraphs and the Christendom. The gates of hell shall never prevail.

The Chief PRO of the church, Snr Supt Apostle Muyiwa Adeyemi, had in a statement earlier today, congratulated Seraph Oketola, and as well acknowledged his contribution to the rebranding process of the C&S church through positive stories about the fold.

While describing his space in The  PUNCH, as such without blemish and compromise of the ethic of his profession, he noted that  Brother Dayo will be the first Seraph to be an Editor of such a newspaper brand.
 
Adeyemi also urged all Seraphs to remember him in their prayers for a successful tenure, noting that such office is laden with landmines and banana peels but trust on the God of Moses Orimolade to see him through in the exalted position. 

Oketola, a former News Editor of The PUNCH and News and Politics Editor of Saturday PUNCH, had a successful stint as Weekend Titles editor, with his team winning prestigious industry awards.

He joined the newspaper in 2008 as a correspondent on the Business Desk and had a distinguished career as a reporter. He won the Telecoms Reporter of the Year Award at the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (2012), the Conoil Prize for Energy Correspondent of the Year at the NMMA (2014) and Mobil Producing Award for Energy Reporting at the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (2014).

He also won back-to-back the Energy Reporter of the Year at the continental Zimeo Award for Excellence in Media in 2015 in South Africa and 2016 in Kenya. He was the first runner-up in the infrastructure reporting category at the 2016 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Award.

Seraph Dayo also bagged the CSR Reporter of the Year award at the Nigeria Media Merit Awards and equally emerged as one of the four winners in the African Fact-Checking Awards, 2016, held during the “Reporting Africa Conference” in Nairobi, Kenya. The award honoured the best four investigative fact-checking reports by African journalists which exposed misleading claims made by leading public figures across the continent in 2016.

In 2019, Seraph Dayo was selected by the US Embassy in Nigeria to participate in the International Visitors Leadership Programme sponsored by the Department of State. The IVLP gave him tremendous insight into journalism in the US where he visited alongside other participants both print and electronic newsrooms as well as journalism schools across Washington DC; Baltimore, Maryland;  New Orleans, Lousiana; Tampa, Florida; Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico.

Oketola obtained an LL.B from the National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, in 2017; an MA in English (Literature) from the University of Ibadan in 2006, and a BA in English (Literature) from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 2004. He also attended the New England Centre for Investigative Reporting, Massachusetts, United States in 2012, where he obtained a certificate in investigative reporting. He is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the International Association of Professional Writers & Editors.