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It
was during this month some 24 years ago, that cowardice took a whole
new meaning. Precisely, on October 19th 2010, it will be twenty four
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 far
too young to have understood the item in the news or the shock every
one must have been in. So I can’t boast of having had a personal
knowledge of this great man, a privilege I wished I had. But a pile of
old magazines and newspapers which my Dad happens to have kept afforded
me the opportunity of meeting this rare gem one-on-one through his many
issue oriented writings and critical columns. I feel an overwhelming
urge to share what I know with the world as we count down to the twenty
fourth anniversary of his death.

Dele Giwa, founding
editor of NewsWatch magazine was a unique Nigerian in many respects the
most remarkable of which was his belief in journalism as a tool for
ensuring good governance. So strong was his conviction 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 especially the fashion with which it came, 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.

Above all, DG was
very dedicated to his job. In simple terms, he was said to be a
workaholic and would not undermine excellence for any reason.

He abhorred sloppy
work 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.

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 kinds of
Dele Giwa killers. We see his killers in all those who are against the
passage of the Freedom of Information bill. All those who claim to
represent us but who look us in the face and lie to us. We identify the
killers in those people who are quick to lock up television stations
and arrest their staff for doing their job in some weird name of
‘national security’.

We see his killers
in those who steal election victories and manipulate both the judiciary
and the masses such that they some how they continue to soil our public
space. We identify the 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
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 and disappear:

All those who
oppose free speech at any level and engage in acts that negatively
affect the lives of over 140 million Nigerians 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 brought them to book.

If those cowards
who hatched and executed the letter bomb murder of DG thought that they
would succeed in silencing him forever, it is a pity that his death
only gave rise to many more biting journalists and journalistic forums,
including social media where our people have continued to say it
pointblank like Dele Giwa did.

So, 24 years on, we
are not mourning but celebrating the life and times of this icon, true
patriot and a national hero of the first degree. We might not all be
journalists or possess the talent of writing well, but we can still
pursue excellence and the great ideals he exemplified by aspiring to be
the best we can be in our chosen fields. Above all, we must stop his
killers in whatever form we identify them from having a go at us again
for 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.”