Skip to main content

Journalism Professor Olatunji Dare To Be Honored At 70

 

Image

Nigeria's former Defence Minister, General Theophilus Danjuma (ret.), the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a leading member of the Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere,  Chief Ayo Adebanjo, other leading politicians, scholars and media chiefs will gather at the Muson Center, Lagos on Thursday, July 17, to celebrate one of Nigeria's leading media figures, journalism professor and former Chairman and Editorial Page Editor of The Guardian, Professor Olatunji Dare, as he clocks 70.

The birthday celebration, which according to the organizers, will be chaired by General Danjuma, will witness a lecture by a media scholar, Professor  Kwame Karikari of the University of Ghana, Legon, on "Memories of Censorship: Struggling for Press Freedom in Africa." A book edited by Wale Adebanwi entitled Public Intellectuals, the Public Sphere and the Public Spirit: Essays in Honour of Olatunji Dare, will also be presented at the event. Contributors to the book include scholars, media chiefs and activists such as the famous poet, Professor Niyi Osundare, University of University of Swaziland don, Dr, Adidi Uyo, former Daily Times editor, Dr. Ndaeyo Uko, now of Monash University,  Australia, former Concord MD, Dr. Doyin Abiola, former Punch Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, famous poet, Mr. Odia Ofeimun, editor-in-chief of Premium Times,  Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, Executive Editor of TheNEWS,  Mr. Kunle Ajibade, Professor Lai Oso, Mr. Segun Ayobolu, Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo, Dr. Ebenezer Obadare, Mr. Olakunle Abimbola, Dr. Akin Adesokan, and Dr. Sina Odugbemi. 

Olatunji Dare, who is currently a professor of communication at the Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, United States, is Nigeria's most celebrated satirist and one of the most respected newspaper columnist. Currently a columnist for the Nation newspaper, Dare has been described as one who "remains a glittering advertisement for patriotic and conscientious journalism." Globally-respected poet and scholar, Professor Niyi Osundare, states that "In Olatunji Dare's writing, we encounter a productive marriage of the gravitas of content and the felicity of style." 

Dare studied mass communication at the University of Lagos, graduating with First Class Honors. He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York, and a doctorate in communication research from Indiana University, Bloomington, with specializations in international communication and public policy analysis. He taught at the University of Lagos from 1984 until 1988, when he was appointed a columnist and editorial page editor of The Guardian, which was Nigeria’s most influential newspaper. Two years later he became chair of the Editorial Board. As a correspondent for The Guardian, Professor Dare filed stories from more than a dozen countries on three continents, including reporting from The White House. He joined the Bradley faculty in 1997. He has served as an editorial writer for The Seattle Times, on a fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He has also served as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development of the U.K. Foreign Office.

Professor Dare's awards includes The Robert A. Curry Prize in Editorial Writing from Columbia University, The Nieman Foundation’s Louis M. Lyons Prize for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism,and the Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching Excellence from the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts at Bradley.

Image