Wednesday, November 4, 2015

10 things to know about DELE GIWA

 




 1. Sunmonu Oladele Giwa was born on 16 March 1947 and lived for only 39 years.

2. He was born to a poor family working in the palace of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife. His father later moved to Oduduwa College as a laundry man.

3. He worked for the New York Times and Daily Times before setting up Newswatch with fellow journalists Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed.

4. In his short life, Dele Giwa married three wives: an American nurse in 1974; Florence Ita Giwa, a Nigerian Senator (they got separated 10 months later on mutual grounds); and Olufunmilayo Olaniyan on 10 July 1984, whom he stayed with till his death.


5. He was killed by a parcel bomb in his Lagos home which was the first of its kind on 19 October 1986 allegedly delivered by Mohammed Buba Marwa.

6. He had being accused of several crimes related to his works in Newswatch about the government and its activities.

7. Kayode Soyinka, a three-time Ogun state governorship aspirant, was with him on the day of the blast but had excused himself few minutes before the explosion.

8. No one has been convicted as his murderer but many reports hold that the Ibrahim Babangida administration cannot exonerate itself from his murder.

9. In 2008, along with other activists such as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Ken Saro Wiwa, the federal government named a street in Abuja after him.

10. The police has said they may re-open the case if they find any new leads.

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