On May 9, one of the most accomplished exemplars of journalistic practice in post-independence Nigeria, Mr Oluwadare Babarinsa, attained the significant milestone of marking seven eventful decades this side of eternity. It can be said with no equivocation of Mr Babarinsa that journalism is his life. The graduate of the University of Lagos has not looked back since putting his hands on the plough of journalism at the commencement of his career over four decades ago. Of his education, Babarinsa said, “I went to Anglican Grammar School, Ile-Ife, from 1969 to 1973. After that, I was a teacher briefly at Ire-Ekiti and Ikole-Ekiti before I gained admission to the University of Ife in 1976. I was there for two years before crossing over to the University of Lagos to study Mass Communication. Since 1981, after my graduation, and after I finished my NYSC on July 15, 1982, I have been into journalism”.
From editing the Corps Torch, a magazine of the NYSC during his youth service, he was employed by Drum magazine, from where he joined the Concord Group of Newspapers in November 1982. A master wordsmith and meticulous craftsman, he joined the then trail-blazing Newswatch as a staff reporter in 1984 and rose to become Associate Editor of the magazine. Of his Newswatch years, he recalls in an interview that “It was a great experience working with Newswatch. You cannot get a better environment to practice journalism. Journalists were in charge; we were not beholden to any moneybags”. He was one of those writers whose delectable and arresting prose, along with icons such as Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed, made Newswatch a weekly must-read for undergraduates like me.
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As Executive Editor of the TELL Magazine, of which he was a co-founder, Babarinsa continued his service to Nigeria and humanity through the medium of journalism. Not given to self-promotion, he courageously but quietly contributed his quota to the struggle against military dictatorship in Nigeria through his fearless articles at the Newswatch and TELL magazines. An author, his book, ‘House of War’, captures vividly in gripping prose the struggle for power in Nigeria’s Second Republic with particular focus on the intra-party conflicts within Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). His publishing company, GaskiaMedia, published Chief Bisi Akande’s epochal autobiography, ‘My Participations.’
As an unapologetic and proud Yoruba patriot who embodies the best of the ‘Omuluabi’ ethos, Mr Babarinsa’s response to a question on why his company is named GaskiaMedia is insightful and interesting. His words, “Yes, Gaskia is a Hausa word. Gaskia has a very high-level universal aspiration; it means truth. It is not a Fulani word; it is one of the best-used words in Africa, and therefore, it carries a deep philosophical meaning. It means, it also means the truth”. To a deeply reflective and broad-minded journalist and a great human being, we say ‘a happy, blessed and fulfilled birthday sir.’
