Media chiefs and a senator, yesterday, extolled the virtues of late icon of journalism, Doyin Mahmoud.

Mahmoud, was senior journalist at Daily Times, former Chief Sub-editor and Training Editor of The Guardian Newspaper, Editor of the Gerald Newspapers, Editor in Chief of Daily Independent, and pioneer Head of the Department of the Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State was honoured by lecturers and students of the department in an annual memorial lecture initiated in his honour.

Senator Umar Sadiq, representing Kwara North, and seasoned journalists Raheem Adedoyin, Simon Kolawole, Saadu Salahudeen and Kabir Garba paid glowing tributes to the late editor and media executive.

The event which also serves as a knowledge renewal to the lecturers and students in the department witnessed a presentation of papers in the field of journalism by Salahudeen, a public relations expert, broadcast journalist, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and former special adviser to Kwara state governor on strategy; Kolawole, founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Cable Newspaper and Dr. Garba, Editor of The Guardian on Sunday.

The trio affirmed the outstanding qualities of the late Mahmoud describing him as a great communication scholar and excellent role model in the field of journalism.

The guest speakers spoke on the continuous relevance of youths in journalism vis-a-vis the emergence of social media in which it appears anybody is now a journalist. He emphasised the importance of upholding the ethics of the profession and putting the interest of society into consideration anytime they are pushing out information to the public as news.

Also extolling the virtues of the late Mahmoud, veteran journalist and member of the executive board of the International Press Institute (IPI), Raheem Adedoyin, described the late Mahmoud, as a passionate journalist, a great academician, and a mentor who dedicated his lifetime to pursuing excellence in Journalism field where he also groomed many.

Adedoyin, former Commissioner for Information in the state and lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication charged the students to imbibe the virtues of good learning, discipline, and incorruptibility that made the late Mahmoud immortal.

He also tasked the traditional media to be more vigilant and remain professional in the midst of an unprofessional social media revolution.

Also, Dr. Kabir Garba, Editor of Weekend Guardian Newspapers who delivered a paper on 'Cultivating the next generation of engaged citizenry: the media's role in empowering young people' described the late Doyin Mahmoud as someone who lived a life of empowering humanity, said: “The life and times of Mr. Adedoyin Nureni Mahmoud epitomised empowering of humanity and young ones in the field of the media profession.”

Kolawole, publisher of TheCable Newspaper, said though he did not work with late Mahmoud , he read a lot about the titan's transformational work in the field of journalism.

In his remarks, Salahudeen characterized the late Mahmoud as a journalism icon “who made his footprints in the sand of times, leading in the battlefield by his pen to get Nigeria returned to Democratic government and freer society which many contemporary younger Nigerians take for granted.”

The event also witnessed the launching of the department's Magazine 'The Lens' by Senator Sadiq Sulyman Umar who described Mahmoud as “ a colossus whose mentoring is evident in journalism practice today.”