On this day in 1947, Nigerian journalist, editor and founder of Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa was born to a poor family working in the palace of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife…
He attended local Authority Modern School in Lagere, Ile-lfe. When his father moved to Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife as a laundry man, he gained admission to that school. He later traveled to the USA for his higher education, earning a BA in English from Brooklyn College in 1977 and enrolled for a Graduate program at Fordham University.
He worked with the New York Times as a news assistant for four years after which he relocated to Nigeria to work with Daily Times and in 1984, with fellow journalists Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed founded Newswatch.
Dele Giwa was killed by a mail bomb in his Lagos home on 19 October 1986. The assassination occurred two days after he had been interviewed by State Security Service (SSS) officials. On the fateful day, a package was delivered to Giwa’s guard and when Giwa received the package, he was with Kayode Soyinka (London Bureau Chief of Newswatch). The package exploded, mortally wounded Giwa and temporarily deafening Soyinka, who had excused himself to the rest room shortly before Giwa was supposed to have attempted opening the package. Giwa was rushed to the hospital where he eventually died from his wounds.
