As an undergraduate at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria years ago, I was star-struck when Dele Momodu graced the final of a football match as the special guest of honor with Modupe Ozoluwa, one of the most beautiful celebrity entrepreneurs in Nigeria then. Momodu was then at the height of his powers when appearing on the cover of Ovation magazine was the height of achievements for many. Dele Momodu’s Ovation that is styled after the UK’s Hello magazine was Africa’s number one celebrity magazine that had everything a soft sell should have. The stories were filled with grandeur. The photography was breathtaking. And you will find copies at virtually all successful business outlets and homes. I can remember that even vendors had to scramble to get enough copies to sell. That was then.

As the years became decades, Dele Momodu’s rise has not mimicked that of his contemporaries Nduka Obaigbena and John Momoh. Both have built remarkable media empires, to say the least. As I reminisce, trying to identify what went wrong with Dele Momodu’s rise and continued relevance, I remembered what made him famous in the first place. Dele Momodu is a journalist who has an unrestrained admiration for anyone successful regardless of their sources of income or path to fame. He is ready to showcase anyone in a positive light no matter how negative these individual’s past or present had been. If you presently go to his column on Thisday newspaper and read his articles you will come to a sorry conclusion. Because this is a man who can praise sing saints and sinners with the same choice of words in the same article. Dele Momodu does not care about your path to fame and fortune, his most important concern is to be identified as a buddy of the high and mighty.

Unfortunately, his contemporaries John Momoh of Channels TV and Nduka Nduka Obaigbena have also perfected what truncated Dele Momodu’s continued rise. Channels TV that used to be professionally objective can now be called a mouthpiece for APC, Nigeria’s ruling party. Thisday newspaper has been subtly towing the same path for years. If you take stock of the former state governors who won Thisday awards, you will realize the worthlessness of newspaper awards generally in Nigeria. The irony of this situation where the watchdogs are now the dogs is disheartening. The new kid on the block Sahara Reporters who seems to be giving Buhari’s government sleepless nights is a scheming schemer whose schemes have a presidential agenda. Sahara Reporters was an efficient tool in publishing fake news when APC was the opposition. Today the agenda and methodology have been modified but the scheming remains. As Dele Momodu celebrates his 60th birthday, we wish him a new era of responsible journalism that elevates the masses and not the corruptly elevated. 

Ata Ukuta – Editor, www.towncryyers.com