Dele Giwa, a front-page, clever, and adventurous journalist trained in the United States of America, was gruesomely assassinated on October 19, 1986, exactly 36 years ago today, using a letter bomb, the first of its kind in Nigerian history.
Giwa served as the first Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch, a publication that paved the way for Nigeria’s journalistic revolution. The tragic occurrence happened under Ibrahim Babangida’s military rule.
He is remembered for his famous quote: “Nigeria is on fire and the citizens are amused”. Giwa was one of Nigerian’s boldest journalists, who many referred to as the man with the mighty pen.
Below are ten facts about Dele Giwa:
1. Dele Giwa married an American nurse in 1974.
2.His second marriage, to Florence Ita Giwa, lasted 10 months. He later married Olufunmilayo Olaniyan on July 10, 1984, and they were married until his death in 1986.
3.Dele Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb in his home at Ikeja, Lagos, while in his study with Kayode Soyinka, on Sunday October 19, 1986.
4.He attended local Authority Modern School in Lagere, Ile-lfe.
5.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.
6.He worked for The New York Times as a news assistant for four years after which he relocated to Nigeria to work with Daily Times.
7.Dele Giwa and fellow journalists Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed founded Newswatch in 1984.
8.When his father moved to Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife as a laundry man, he gained admission to that school.
9. After university, Giwa worked for The New York Times. In 1979, he returned to Nigeria, where he joined The Daily Times.
10. In 1980, Giwa joined The Sunday Concord.
