Ajibade @ 60: Soyinka, Falana, others lead colloquium in Lagos

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) and Ms Ayo Obe are among top Nigerians billed to hold a colloquium to mark the 60th birthday of the renowned journalist and author, Mr. Kunle Ajibade. A press statement by Friends of Kunle Ajibade @ 60 Committee, made available to Blueprint yesterday said, the one-day public discourse holding at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos on Wednesday, May 30, would be followed by a cultural evening/ poetry reading at the Freedom Park in honour of the legendary writer.
The statement described Kunle Ajibade, “as a renowned journalist and author, who has functioned as a crucial actor within the Nigerian media space over the last three decades. It added that, “his various roles in the media have seen him serve as reporter to media houses, a Senior Correspondent for The African Concord magazine, Assistant Editor with The African Guardian, and then different editorial and management responsibilities in the now rested Tempo and A.M News titles, before being Executive Editor of TheNEWS magazine and P.M. News in the past several years.” The statement further acknowledged that, “it was his work in the Nigerian media in the dark days of brutal military rule that saw him crusading on the side of social justice, and hence running against the murky essence of the vicious Abacha military regime in its high noon.
“Kunle Ajibade was arrested on spurious charges and ‘jailed for life’ in 1995, after a kangaroo and contrived judicial process, in similar vein to the encounters of other journalists like George Mbah of Tell magazine, Chris Anyanwu of The Sunday Magazine (TSM), and Ben Charles Obi of the Weekend Classique, about the same period.” The colloquium would be led by Professor Wole Soyinka, the 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, on the theme of “A Bright Future for Nigeria and How to Get There.” Fellow speakers on the day, according to the programme lined up for the colloquium, would include Dr. Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu; Mrs. Ayo Obe; Mr. Femi Falana (SAN); Ms. Ayisha Osori; Mr. Owei Lakemfa; Mr. Sam Omatseye, and other notable speakers. “The events are open to the general public and many others wishing to be a part of these activities designed to honour Kunle Ajibade, an Omoluabi, who truly deserves to be celebrated,” the friends said.