Finally, missing former ASUU President Dipo Fasina found in Turkey

A former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dipo Fasina, popularly known as ‘Jingo’, who was reported missing earlier today, Sunday, July 9, 2023 has been found.

Mr Fasina, 76, was said to have been missing since Saturday, 1 July.

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES in a message shared with our reporter on Sunday.

NIDCOM also tweeted the development, even as it commended Nigeria’s High Commission in Turkey for the collaborative efforts to locate the scholar.

The organisation wrote on its official Twitter handle that Mr Fasina was found at the airport and would be on his way to Nigeria on Monday.

NIDCOM wrote: “The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Turkey, has successfully located Prof Fasina, who went missing for a few days at Istanbul Airport while connecting on a flight back home.

“Mr Fasina, 76, was travelling to Algeria when he was said to have missed his connecting flight from Istanbul, Turkey.”

The agency commended the office of the High Commission for swiftly drafting its officials to the airport.

“A big thanks to the Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey who immediately sent officials to the Airport to physically locate him in the very busy and huge Istanbul Airport.”

An erudite scholar, a popular activist and unionist, Mr Fasina taught Philosophy for 34 years to the delight of countless students at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, which he joined in 1979 after returning from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he bagged his PhD certificate.

A trustee of ASUU and the Chairperson of the Joint Action Front (JAF), a coalition of labour movements and civil societies championing pro-masses struggles in Nigeria, Mr Fasina is from the Ashogbon royal family of Lagos.

He was nicknamed Jingo by his students as the favourite name he used to cite examples in his crowded classes.

He was also credited with having founded the Philosophy department at Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University), where he was said to have donated his entitlements to establish a library.

Since he retired from OAU, Mr Fasina has taught Philosophy across some Nigerian universities