Dele Giwa (16
March 1947 – 19 October 1986) was a Nigerian journalist,
editor and founder of Newswatch magazine.
Early
Life and Career
Sumonu Oladele
"Baines" Giwa was born on 16 March 1947 to a poor family working in
the palace of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife. He attended
local Authority Modern School in Lagere, Ile-lfe.
When his father moved to Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife as a laundry man, he gained
admission to that school.
Dele Giwa travelled to the USA
for his higher education, earning a BA in English from Brooklyn College in
1977 and enrolled for a Graduate program at Fordham University. He worked with the New York Times as
a news assistant for four years after which he relocated to Nigeria to work
with Daily Times.
Dele Giwa and fellow journalists Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu
Mohammed founded Newswatch in
1984, and the first edition was distributed on 28 January 1985. A 1989
description of the magazine said it "changed the format of print
journalism in Nigeria [and] introduced bold, investigative formats to news
reporting in Nigeria".
However, in the first few
months of the administration of General Ibrahim
Babangida, who took power in August 1985, the magazine was
shamelessly flattering. It printed his face on the cover four times and even
criticised "anyone who attempted to make life unpleasant for Babangida". Later,
the paper took a more hostile view of the Babangida regime.
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