It was very early in November 1978 when Chief Bayo Fadoju, my former HSC classmate at Ijebu Muslim College screamed at me on the corridor of Daily Times office at Kakawa Street Lagos: “Lucky Star, where have you been? Oga has been looking for you for days now. You must come with me to his office”. It was like a marching order.
Chief Bayo Fadoju was a Director at “’John West’’; a Media Conglomerate owned by Alhaji Lateef Jakande a highly venerated journalist and first African to chair the reputable International Press Institute,[]IPI. He was also the Editor-In-Chief of the “African Newspapers Nigeria Limited” [ANN]. A man devoid of ceremonies and preambles, Alhaji went straight to business.
“Tola, I want you to go to Ibadan and take over Tribune from Mr. Labanji Bolaji who has just resigned. I am sure you know I will be running for governor of Lagos state.
You are in charge now.” He allowed me the luxury of seeing his lips open, a smile of some sort, which he sparingly gave. He did not even allow me to say a word.
In March 1974 he had sent for me in the like manner offering the position of Executive Secretary of IPI [Africa]. I had just assumed office as Africa’s first newspaper Ombudsman in the Daily Times. I told my boss Alhaji Ismail Babatunde Jose, unarguably the father of modern Journalism in Africa, who just waved Jakande’s offer aside and instructed me to decline it.
I sensed Jakande didn’t want a repeat of that. He gave me a sheet of paper, us.