Being a “journalist” requires you to behave oneself with the utmost honesty and, more importantly, objectivity throughout the journalist’s office. Therefore, a journalist must make it their top duty to provide residents with the information and education they require in order for them to make the best decisions for their lives and the community as a whole.
Over 40 years ago, Sumonu Oladele “Baines” Giwa was given to Nigeria. His unwavering commitment to produce excellent journalism and what many perceive to be a “full command of what it takes to be a good writer” made him stand out right away. His brief existence on earth dramatically altered how people view media. He claimed that “Nigeria is on fire and the people are amused” in one of his writings.
For a variety of reasons, including the fact that it was the first of its kind in the country and the horrible circumstances surrounding how he died, Giwa’s death is well-known in Nigerian media history. It was carefully organized with the idea of getting rid of him completely. It was a well-thought-out strategy that employed brutal assassination techniques. Through a letter bomb, that is. a kind of death that was unheard of in the nation’s history and still sends shivers down the spines of those who have experienced the awful event.
Dele Giwa is his Nigerian name. He was born in 1947 to a family who worked in the palace of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife. Before going to Brooklyn College in the US to study English, he finished high school in Ile Ife. In 1974, he married an American nurse. After graduating in 1977, he moved to Fordham University for graduate study.
When he returned, the Daily Times newspaper recruited him. He was married for 10 months to former senator Florence Ita Giwa. In retrospect, Giwa was one of the most significant advancements in Nigerian investigative reporting throughout the 1980s. He worked with fellow front-line reporters Dan Agbese, Yakubu Muhammad, and Ray Ekpu to develop Nigeria’s first news magazine, Newswatch, after establishing himself at the Daily Times and Africa Concord.
The military government of General Ibrahim Babangida worked to conceal and denounce the publication. He kept the government alert at the time by acting as a monitor over it. But eventually the authorities started to see him as a problem, which resulted in his horrible end and the unfortunate method in which he died.
According to a source, the dying journalist, who was reportedly in excruciating pain, said to Dr. Tosin Ajayi, the Medical Director at First Foundation Hospital, Ikeja, “Tosin, they’ve got me.” These were Giwa’s final words before passing away on Sunday, October 19, 1986, at the age of 39, bringing an end to his distinguished journalism career and eventful life.
After 36 years, there are still unanswered questions about who murdered Dele Giwa and why he was brutally murdered.
