By Sani Sa’idu Baba

It was the late Albanian-Indian Philosopher, Mother Mary Teresa, who said “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”. This ideology epitomizes Chief (Dr.) Dele Momodu.

His popularity, good policies and the various achievements he has recorded particularly in the areas of voluntary commitments to human development, introduce him wherever he finds himself.

However, to set the records straight, I will introduce him in a jiffy.

Born Ayobamidele Abayomi Ojutelegan Ajani Momodu, his character reflects the meaning of his name; Ayobamidele, meaning “my joy has followed me home”, has enabled him spread joy and happiness to thousands of people including those he never knew or even met in life. He is indeed one of the greatest gift that Nigeria and Africa ever received from God, and many obvious reasons attest to this fact.

He was born in the ancient town of Ile-Ife in 1960, had his education in Ile-Ife; from primary to university level, so he is a typical Ife boy, a heritage he cherishes.

From an errand boy at the CSS Bookshop, Ife, Momodu has come a long way. He lost his father at a very young age of 13, but enjoyed the privilege of been morally raised by his mother, a relatively low educated but highly moralistic mother. Her love for education made her do everything humanly possible to give the best of education to her youngest son, Chief Dr. Dele Momodu.

He later worked at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU) Library in 1977,  before becoming one of the pioneer JAMBITE in 1978 in the same university. He was admitted to study Yoruba Language and Literature. Many, including his mother made mockery of his course wondering why a Yoruba man would read Yoruba Language in the university. Interestingly, Dele Momodu had his own motive behind his choice and that had till today undoubtedly made him unique in any area of life he ventured into, including journalistism, which has distinguished him in Africa today.

He did his National Youth Service (NYSC) at the Oyo State College of Arts and Science in Ile-Ife between 1982 and 1983 where he taught A level Yoruba. After that at about 23 years of age he joined Chief Akin Omoboriowo, the then Deputy Governor of Ondo State where he served in the capacity of Private Secretary, but that appointment was short lived as a result of political crisis.

While visiting his boss in detention on a daily basis, he was privileged to meet different high profile Nigerians. GOD was obviously preparing him for a journey. Thereafter, he worked for the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II in 1986 and managed the Motel Royal Limited owned by the monarch before he finally got back to the University of Ife in 1988 and bagged a Masters degree in English Literature. With no employment, the desire to survive forced him to think outside the box, and that was when it dawn on him that he can do a lot with his writing ability. Consequently, he started contributing articles to to newspaper house, notably the Guardian, and Sunday Tribune at a cost of 25 Naira per article.

In May, 1988, Dele Momodu relocated to Lagos in search of greener postures and was first employed by Chief MKO Abiola as a staff writer with African Concord magazine. He spent a year there before moving over to Weekend Concord as a pioneer staff. From then onwards, promotions and appointments became sporadic until he became the highest paid editor in Nigeria. He is indeed a classical example of “hard work pays”.

In the line of duty, the bond between him and his boss, Chief MKO Abiola was strengthened to the extent he practically became his ‘son’. The relationship continued until Abiola’s death. He featured prominently in the quest to reclaim the June 12, 1993 mandate of Abiola, which was annulled by the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. He has not ceased to be an activist since then even after another military dictator, General Sani Abacha took over power in 1993. He was forced into exile by General Sani Abacha administration, and for three years lived in London, leaving behind his wife and only son in Lagos, Nigeria. He left Nigeria through the Seme border into Cotonou, Benin Republic, from where he fled to Togo, and then Ghana where many of his friends contributed to help him relocate to the United Kingdom, where some of the June 12 campaigners like Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were taking shelter.

It was during this period that a new page was opened in his life, and that is the birth of Ovation international magazine” in 1996.

After his return to Nigeria, everything took shape and his ovation international magazine continued to gain momentum, covering events almost everywhere in the globe.

In 2011, he took a giant leap when he unveiled his ambition to run for the president of Nigeria having observed unhealthy state of the nation. He stated during an interview with Funmi Iyanda the 10th episode of Public Eye Live, a show that airs every Friday on Instagram Live that “I contested in that 2011 presidential elections because of frustration” and that he was tired of lamenting like Jeremiah. His decision to contest was also greatly influenced by the emergence of Barack Obama as U.S president due to some similarities in their situations.

Meeting Dele Momodu was accidental but interesting. I made a statement on social media, twitter in particular and the statement was advocating for unity of Nigeria as country, and fortunately for me he saw my post because others retweeted and the next thing I saw was a message in my DM asking me to drop my phone number. I was honestly excited, and I did. After some few hours he called me and commended me for my love and advocacy for unity of our country. He told me categorically that unity of Nigeria has always been his uncompromising priority and that he loves all Nigerians irrespective of our differences.

Since then, Dele Momodu became my mentor, friend and father; his fatherly treatment has been so amazing to the extent that he reaches out to me and my family and I reach out to him and his family also. In fact, we communicate almost every day. He has influenced me so significantly that it’s as if he is more concerned about my progress than I am. And guess what? We have NEVER met physically. The closest arrangement he had was truncated by the COVID-19 lockdown. Through him, I got to know many great Nigerians and Africans. By my understanding, Momodu is one of the detribalized elites in Nigeria. It is disheartening to hear people selfishly accuse him of advocating disunity just because he tells truth to power, which happens to be in the hands of a northerner. He did the same to Goodluck Jonathan. I think only hypocrites accuse him because he has been pro-North on so many issues, especially on how to arrest the Almajiri system that bedeviled the nooks and crannies of the North.

Of all the good qualities I have learnt from this great mentor, the four cardinal principles of life, stand out. These cardinal principles are; intellectual honesty, ability to conquer fears without tears, dedication beatified with vigour and prudence and above all, the unquenchable light of hope, which originated from sound moral and spiritual values.

In my relationship with Dele Momodu, not only as his mentee, but also as his disciple and friend, I have known him to be a good listener, a reliable person (in secret and in public), humble in the truest meaning of the word, forgiving even at the face of the greatest provocation, a dogged fighter against injustice and conservatism, a guide to thousands of people irrespective of their social status, and above all, trustworthy. Needless to say that, unity advocacy is one important things that he is best known for. As he always claim that if President Buhari can do only one thing in his eight years in office, he will be satisfied, and that is to unite Nigeria.

In some of his radical weekly PENDULUM, he petitioned the president about several issues of national concern, unity of the country included. The edition of July 18, 2020 titled “Is the President Aware this House is Falling” and January 24, 2021 titled “Who Shall Tell the President Nigeria is Dying” and lot more where he lamented bitterly about both moral and intellectual decay of the bond that united Nigerians as a nation, with particular reference to security, corruption, promotion of mediocrity at the expense of people with great ideas, nepotism and favoritism. This he did without fear for surely, he was convinced that he was fighting for the truth.

In the opening part of the letter, he made it clear that the country called Nigeria is dying where he particularly mentioned that ‘Fellow Nigerians, please take note of the title of my column this week. I did not say Nigerians are dying. That is stale news, as well as an understatement. My focus is that the country called Nigeria is dying. I do not know what sort of security briefing President Muhammadu Buhari, regularly or periodically receives from his obviously reticent and incompetent security team. I doubt it includes the fact that Nigeria is speeding towards a monumental collapse, unless a miracle, or something drastic is done to stop this supersonic drift towards perdition’.

Dele Momodu initially began to give up to the extent that he declared to go on voluntary sabbatical on January 25, 2020, from advising and telling the government of today the truth, before his more than three decades of tireless spirit of patriotism made him rethink. He wrote with the hope that the government will take prompt measures to restore the confidence of the Nigerian people in the leadership, and re-establish a more respectable administrative machinery in the various sectors in the country. We could all recall that Dele Momodu offered himself as a voluntary advisor, telling Mr President the truth that his paid advisors and others in the corridors of power might not. What better way could he have used to show his selfless nature and high patriotism?

For his unwavering nationalism and love for Africa irrespective of race, gender, tribe or religion, Dele Momodu was conferred with many traditional titles not only in Nigeria but Africa at large. He was appointed a fellow, Africa Public Relations Association (APRA) in April, 2019. He is also a fellow and scholar at the center for African development, Oxford University, United Kingdom. He has also presented many academic papers both at national and international level.

Dele Momodu is also the author of two books, and there is another written on him, which in my opinion is great, is titled “Fighting Lions”. On the international stage, Dele Momodu has participated in many programmes, especially on Africa development and as a pan-Africanist. He contributed largely to reconciling the unfortunate happenings in his second country, Ghana between Nigerian traders and the government of Ghana. He also lent his voice in the fight against Apartheid Policy in South Africa. Furthermore, his unprecedented effort towards understanding national issues and bringing out solutions cannot not be overemphasized. Particularly in April 2020 when Nigeria joined many other countries to lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Dele Momodu came up with a first of its kind idea, by interviewing many high profile and prominent Nigerians of high pedigree to discuss national issues, and suggest possible ways of moving Nigeria forward.

Among those featured were Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Rivers State Governor, and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke and the Vice President of Liberia, Her Excellency Jewel Howard-Taylor among others. He came to the financial aid of thousands of Nigerians irrespective of tribes, region or religion as palliatives to cushion the impact of the pandemic, and that was interestingly done with equal representations from all the 36 states.

Momodu has grown many mentees including myself, and helping them to reach the apogee of their successes. He derives much pleasure in giving, and helping others irrespective of their tribes or religion. He probably adopted the saying of his boss, Chief MKO Abiola, that the hand of a giver is always on top. He tells truth to power always, and tirelessly, irrespective of the cost, and supports leaders irrespective of region or religion. His support for a Northerner, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, against a Southerner former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is enough evidence. Although he is today aggressively criticized and blamed for his actions, but he has justified why he supported him and finally apologized to Nigerians. He did that with very good intentions. This is why I see people criticizing him for not being on the same page with Buhari as ignoramuses. Momodu’s love for Nigeria is truly non-negotiable.

Imagine our Nigeria without the likes of Dele Momodu vis-à-vis helping others, telling truth to a failed administration; it would be akin to a paralysed state. It would also mark the end of an era, separating a moral past and a delusive present.

As far as I am concerned,  Dele Momodu is ‘a spiritual strength, an honest, generous and nice human being to know and to relate with.

This great man will be 61 years old on May 16, 2021 and I honestly feel that his birthday is worth celebrating by all Africans to appreciate such a huge gift by GOD. I celebrate him with my entire family.

I wish the Capo Di Tutti a happy birthday. May your tomorrow be better than your today sir!