“Men are made for men”. This saying is particularly true concerning Chief (Dr) Dele Momodu, the newly crowned Aare of Osunland who has been in the limelight since 1996 when he founded the now famous magazine, ‘Ovation International’. As a trailblazer in the media space, he has used his capacity as a cerebral and branded media personality to promote the positive image of Nigeria and Nigerians all over the world and influencing young people positively. This global citizen has given many people publicity within and outside Nigeria and his good works speak for itself as a distinguished media guru of our time.
When he founded the Ovation International Magazine 26 years ago, he had so many things in mind, some of which were;
(i) To help shapen Nigeria to a modern day society through the light and exposure of the media.
(ii)Supporting and creating opportunity for young people.
(iii) Creating a platform for people to excel in the entertainment sector.
(iv) Creating contents to enlighten Nigerians on things happening in the social world.
(v) Using his magazine to tell the Nigerian story from a positive perspective.
(vi) Nurturing young and creative writers and passionate youths on nation building.
(vii) Documenting trendy events and societal gatherings for the elites.
In my journey into capacity building, I discovered that I fell into the 6th category of his objectives, which got me so inspired by his good works and personality. I made countless prayers for me to meet with him one-on-one,. As fate would have it, our paths crossed over a decade ago precisely at the University of Lagos on the 10th of May, 2010 when I was serving my fatherland in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as a passionate and industrious youth corper in Lagos. I walked up to him, fired a short introduction of myself and told him how he has inspired me from afar and as a role model to many of us. As an articulate and pragmatic Deltan, I ceased the opportunity to share my vision for the nation while standing and invited him to be our special guest to help address the issues of drug abuse amongst the youths. In the course of our conversation, he picked interest in my plan to set up an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that will be centred on creating awareness about drugs and substance abuse which has been claiming the lives of many promising Nigerian youths. He told me, Sunny don’t worry, I will be there in your event. I took his words so casually thinking that he was like other Nigerian elites who would promise and fail.
I did a thorough follow up on him through calls and text messages, because I understood how busy he was, but he never picked my calls, but he keep me in his mind. Surprisingly, an hour to the event, he called me and said; I’m close to your event place.” The venue that day was Methodist Boys High School, Lagos. Before I say Jack Robinson, Bob Dee as he was fondly called, drove in with his entourage. My joy was endless as I felt on top of the world. My fellow corps members were stunned that I could pull such a high profile personality like him to the event as they kept calling me “big man.”
The hall that was filled to the brim fascinated Uncle Dele and he said “Sunny, you are a born leader.” So impressed, he gave me all the needed initial support that our project wanted.
After his spectacular attendance at our program, we further rolled up our sleeves and started planning on how to organize more public sensitization programs on the dangers of drugs and substance abuse in the country. The success of that event was topical in the lips of many.
Till date, Bob Dee keeps pushing the SILEC initiatives brand with countless publicity in the Ovation International Magazine,The Boss Newspaper and Ovation TV free of charge. What a good and patriotic Nigerian.
Over the years, he has been incredible and his core mandate of nation building has seen him being involved in different aspects of our national life in his pursuit for press freedom and development of our nation. He has taken it upon himself to build bridges across the length and breadth of Nigeria as a publisher/journalist, a businessman and a politician. No doubt, he’s a force to be reckoned with as far Nigeria is concerned.
Evidently, he has been contributing his quota to the growth and development of our nation. He has been so outspoken in the political scene, in the business and corporate world and also in the entertainment industry. Chief Dele Momodu has used his reputation and social connections to give platforms to small, young, vibrant and diligent Nigerians that are committed to making meaningful impacts in our society. As a proud beneficiary of his magnanimity, I stand bold to say that he has been a huge influence on SILEC Initiatives from the very beginning. Today, Silec Initiatives is now a global brand that has signed two partnership agreements in the United States of America, which are:
(1) Citizenship Diplomacy Leadership Exchange Program for Nigerians to build their leadership capacity with WorldChicago every year, and
(2) Scholarship with Shepherd University, West Virginia USA for Nigerian students who wish to study in the United States.
I was privileged to be invited by the United States government in 2019 as a U.S. Government Sponsored Exchange Alumni of the International Visitors Leadership Exchange Program (IVLP), Department of State. Such prestigious invitation came from the U.S to me as a result of our nation building initiatives which we have pursuing passionately, thanks to the support of people like Dr. Dele Momodu. I can proudly say that knowing him is a blessing to me and the Silec Initiatives. Today, Silec Initiatives is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most active NGO on drug abuse sensitization and youth development and empowerment/leadership program.
With people like him on our media space, we can be rest assured that the hidden talents in our youths will be given a platform to excel. As a quintessential gentleman, he has always been in the forefront when issues of nation building is on the horizon. Since I knew him, he has exposed me to a lot of things about capacity building, mentorship, talent discovery, brand promotions, leadership and a show of love. So many artistes and celebrities hold him in high esteem and they attribute their rising to stardom to him, due to the level playing field that he gives to all budding stars that come his way.
Today, we at Silec Initiatives are celebrating him for his tremendous support to this brand and for his incredible role in building the Nigeria of our dreams.
For his presidential dream, it is a courageous and brilliant step from him to declare his ambition and contribute his quota to provide quality and excellent leadership in the country. We cannot but wish this distinguished Nigerian, detribalised to the core with so much simplicity, intergrity and humility all the very best as he strives to win the presidential election and fix Nigeria.
May God bless Chief (Dr) Dele Momodu.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Amb. Sunny Irakpo is the Founder/President Silec Initiatives, Youth and Anti-drug Abuse Advocate, Anti-drug Abuse Consultant, U.S Government Sponsored Exchange Alumni of the International Visitors Leadership Exchange Program (IVLP) Department of State
