Death, where's thy sting? While members of her family, her large circle of friends and well-wishers were looking forward to her 62nd birthday, come October 12, 2014, fate had a different setting for the late amiable and easy-going former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mrs. Oluremi Oyo.

The death of Mrs. Remi Oyo, on October 1, was received with shock by many who didn't know she had been ill for some time now.

Her death in the United Kingdom, where she had been receiving treatment for a cancer-related ailment, was announced by her husband, Vincent, on Tuesday, October 2.

Late (Mrs.) Felicia Oluwaremilekun Oyo (nee Oke), was born on October 12, 1952 in Ilorin, Kwara State, into a Catholic family. Her formal education began in St. James' Catholic Primary School, Ilorin, and then in St. Louis Secondary School, Bompai, in Kano.

She earned a Diploma in Mass Communication with distinction from the University of Lagos, a post-graduate Diploma in International Relations at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and a Master's degree in International Relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury, U.K.

She began her career as a cub reporter in 1973 with the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), now Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and rose to the position of Principal Editor before moving to the News Agency of Nigeria where she served as Editor and later as the Pioneer Head of the Quality Control Desk.

She later joined the NAN as a Desk Editor in 1981, and left in 1985 as a Principal Editor, the first woman to attain such a high position at the agency.

After leaving NAN, she joined the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), as the Nigerian Bureau chief. She later became the international news agencys West African Bureau chief.

Oluremi also served from 2003 as the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to former President Olusegun Obasanjo - the first woman to be appointed to such a position. She served in that capacity for four years until the end of the former president's tenure in May 2007.

She was appointed in July, 2007, as the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), where she initiated innovations to bring the Agency into the modern digital age. She also appreciably increased the agency's clientele.

Having first served as secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Oyo was elected president of the Guild for two consecutive tenures from 1999 to 2003. She was the first woman to be so honoured.

As president of the Guild, she set up a functional secretariat which still exists today at the NAN complex in Iganmu, Lagos. She also ensured capacity building for editors through regular training which she pioneered for the Guild.

A committed and patriotic Nigerian, whose friends cut across the length and breadth of the country, Mrs. Oyo put Nigeria first in her private and official activities.

A devout Catholic, Mrs. Oyo was a former vice chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council of SS Joachim and Anne of the Catholic Church, Ijegun, in Lagos.

In recognition of her patriotism, a former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, appointed her as a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee to draft the constitution that ushered in the present democratic dispensation in 1999.

A recipient of Nigeria's national honour - the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON in 2006, late Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, also earned many other awards among which was the National Council of Catholic Women Organisation of Nigeria's merit award.

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, also made her a Papal Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great on January 7, 2011.

She was a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and the Nigerian Institute of Public Administrators.

She is survived by her husband, Vincent, her children, grand-children and siblings - Sunday Oke and Yomi Oke.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senate President David Mark, state governors and many eminent Nigerians have expressed their condolences to the late Oluremi Oyo's family over the passing on of the renowned media kingpin.

President Jonathan in his tribute said Remi Oyo was an exemplary and inspiring trail-blazer.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said "on behalf of his family and the Federal Government, President Jonathan extends sincere condolences to her husband, Vincent, her children, Otome and Okiemuote, her surviving siblings and other relatives."

The President similarly commiserated with the Nigerian Guild of Editors who Dame Oyo served most admirably as a two-term president in the course of her trail-blazing journalism career, the management and staff of NAN as well as her colleagues, friends and protégés.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his tribute said the demise of Oyo has left a 'sour taste' in his mouth and others who knew her.

Also commiserating with the bereaved family, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, of Ogun State, expressed shock over the death of the veteran journalist, describing it as a big loss to journalism in particular and the media industry in general.

The Senate also mourned the demise of Mrs. Remi Oyo, describing her death as shocking. It recalled the late Oyo's contributions to media development, particularly her pivotal role in revolutionizing news gathering through wire services as exemplified in her sterling performance in NAN as its managing director.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, David Mark, described Mrs. Oyo as an editor and pathfinder. "As the president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), she provided exemplary leadership that took the Guild to a higher level. She was a great asset to the Nigerian media", he said.

The Newspapers Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN), said that Mrs. Oyo's passage came at a time the nation was trying to come to terms with the grisly exit of another very active member of the Guild, and vice chairman of Sun newspapers, late Dimgba Igwe.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), also joined others in mourning the passage of Mrs Oyo, a Fellow of the NGE and its first female president. The NGE said that Oyo will long be remembered by the Guild for her exemplary leadership qualities, which brought the Guild out of a near comatose state and transformed it into a vibrant association of senior editors with more than 400 members. Her tenure as the NGE president marked a new beginning for the Guild and laid a solid foundation for its transformation into a force to be reckoned with in the country.

May her soul rest in peace.