CELEBRATING DELE GIWA AND UNVEILING THE IDENTITY OF HIS KILLERS

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
It was in this month some twenty two years ago, that cowardice took a whole new meaning. Precisely, on October 19th 2008, it would be twenty two years since the blast from a letter bomb packaged by yet to be identified person(s) sent one of the greatest icons of journalism in this country-Dele Giwa- to an early grave at a little short of forty years of age.
In 1986, I was just two years old, far too young to have understood any thing happening. So I can’t boast of having had a personal knowledge of this great man, a privilege I wished I had had, but a starch of old magazines and news papers which my dad happens to be good in keeping afforded me the opportunity of meeting this rare gem one-on-one through his many issue oriented writings and critical columns and I feel an overwhelming urge to share what I know with the world as we count down to the twenty second anniversary of his death.
Dele Giwa founding editor of NewsWatch magazine was a rare Nigerian who believed so much in journalism that he lived and died for it. With a blunt, firm and forthright resolve, he told the truth and damned the consequences.
With guts and extreme confidence in himself, Dele Giwa acknowledged that he was in the business of making enemies but was ready to make them in the overriding interest of a great Nigerian state. He saw this interest as the responsibility of the press to protect and he blazed the trail in that regard.
D G as he was fondly called believed so much in Nigeria and was said to have once boasted that Nigerians were unshakable. Alas, his death shook the nation a great deal but we carried on. He was known for his unyielding opposition to bad leadership at all levels and uncompromising zeal to expose the misdeeds of public office holders and their collaborators. He condemned crime in all its ramifications and never shied away from openly stating so both in speech and in writing. He called a spade a spade and was never known to cut corners.
Above all, D G was very dedicated to his job. In simple terms, he was a workaholic and would not undermine excellence for any reason. He abhorred sloppy jobs and was quick to rebuke even his top colleagues at Newswatch when found wanting. He hated cheats and liars, was firm and decisive, yet humble and friendly. His bravery and strong personality combined to single him out among his contemporaries. Most of all, he was a good family man; a caring father and a loving husband.
Here was a true patriot and a national hero of the first degree. It was most relieving to have seen his name among the list of Nigerians who were recently honoured with Street names by the FCT minister. It took twenty two years, but then, better than never. But I think we should have done more to immortalize this person who bequeathed to Nigeria the spirit of service to one’s country even in the face of personal discomfort and insecurity.
While the search for his killers might have remained inconclusive all these years, I wish to note that in our society today, we can identify many Dele Giwa Killers. We see his killers in all those who are against the passage of the Freedom of Information bill, in those people who are quick to lock up television stations and arrest their staff for doing their job in the name of ‘security’. We see his killers in those who steal election victory and manipulate both the judiciary and the masses such that they remain in power no matter what. We identify the unknown killers in all those public office holders who mistake the public vault for their trouser pockets, looting so much that one begins to question their sanity.
All those who cut corners and delight in shoddy jobs stink of Dele Giwa’s blood. All those government contractors who have perfected the art of the more you look the less you see- those who will do the job at half the quality, those who will collect the mobilization fee but will never complete the job and those who will be paid even without knowing where the site for the project is.
We recognize D G’s killers in a legislature that spend the better part of the year manipulating the budget and an executive that seems simply confused and helpless. In a judiciary that gives justice to the highest bidder no matter the weight of evidence to the contrary and a police that is irretrievably corrupt and disorganized.
All those who oppose free speech at any level and engage in acts that negatively affects the lives of over 140 million Nigerian both as public officers and as private individuals are the killers we’ve been searching for and it is time we fished them out and made them face the book.
If those cowards who hatched and executed the letter bomb murder of D G thought that they would succeed in silencing him forever, it is a pity that his death only gave rise to many more biting journalist and journalistic forums like own dear Sahara Reporters and many others that are much to the distaste of the killers, telling it the way it is-pointblank- like Dele Giwa did.
So, twenty two years after, we are not mourning but celebrating the life and times of this icon that is a representation of the kind of people we-youths- should have as role model. We might not all be journalists or possess the talent of writing well, but we could still pursue excellence and the great ideals he exemplified by aspiring to be the best we can be in our chosen fields. As Roosevelt once said;
“No man is worth his salt
Who is not ready at all times
To risk his well being, to risk his body,
To risk his life, in a great course.”
Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
nzeifedigbo@yahoo.com