The book, DOTUN OYELADE REPORTING… Memoirs of a Newshound, is a collection on the private life and professional times of a well-experienced and seasoned journalist who has made an indelible mark in the world of broadcast journalism.
Assisted by Tola Teriba and Ayodeji Ajisope, the 271-page book, published in 2022 by Current Incorporated, was launched on Saturday, 10 September, 2022, to mark the 70th birthday anniversary of the author, Prince Dotun Oyelade.
Written in a very simple, fluid, flawless and impeccable English Language, which the author is well-known for, the book is purely narrative at its best. Inter-wovenly crafted, the contents bring to the reader vivid pictures of past events retold in print form by Prince Oyelade.
DOTUN OYELADE REPORTING…Memoirs of a Newshound, is an 18-chapter book revealing the essence of the author as an accomplished journalist, administrator, lover of his wife and dotting father of his children. It reveals a man who is passionately committed to his profession, colleagues and family ties.
The preface of the book dwells on Prince Dotun Oyelade’s early experience in the world of journalism, though mingling with the political class.
He narrates his experience as a journalist who, operating from Room 10 in the Governor’s Office, Oyo State, rose meteorically to become a key member of four administrations in the state within the current democratic dispensation, including those of the late former Governor Lam Adesina, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, the late former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and the present Governor ‘Seyi Makinde-led government.
Though deeply involved in political activities over the years, the Ogbomoso-born accomplished broadcast journalist seeks to distance himself from politics as he declared: “I am a veritable example of a professional in politics and not a professional politician.”
Pungent in delivery, the author did not spare the rod where necessary. Though a veteran in his own right, Prince Oyelade abhors the “Veteran Journalist” syndrome as he says the word, ‘veteran’, is an aberration, only formalised in Nigeria. He also could not hide his disdain for what he describes as the despicable and uninspiring conducts of some older journalists, saying their “station in life were far from enviable.”
Acknowledging however that negative conducts and negativities abound in about all other professions, the author believes strongly that “the truth is that our own profession [Journalism] lacks second-hand value.”
In Chapter One, “Encounter With The General”, Oyelade tells the story of an enthusiastic young broadcast journalist who, though barely one-year-old in the profession, wanted to get an exclusive report out of the commissioning of the then new Akure Ultra Modern Market Complex by the then military Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1978. With his nose bloodied by a security detail, the author narrates how he was not able to have his exclusive interview Obasanjo after the commissioning.
In Chapter Two, “It Has To Be There”, Oyelade recollects how he landed his first job, in 1977, at the then NTV Ibadan (later taken over by the Federal Goverment to form the NTA Network) under the leadership of the renowned broadcast journalist and an administrator per excellence, Ambassador (Dr) Yemi Farounbi.
He also talks about his work experience with some of his colleagues in his early years as a broadcast journalist at the Television House, the first television station in Africa.
Chapter Three deals with the early days of the author at the then Television Service of Oyo State (TSOS), that was established by the late former Governor Bola Ige in 1982, and which later became the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) Television in 1984. He mentions names of the pioneering staff of the station as well as the various departments.
Chapter Four, which he dubs “The Frenetic Years”, dwells extensively on Prince Oyelade’s exploits at TSOS. “It is mainly a re-collective sequence of my major and most memorable reportorial works at the TSOS. Looking back now, I still wonder how we managed to pull off some of those exploits that made us the toast of viewers,” he says.
During that period, he recalls his coverage of, among others: the sensational trial and execution of the notorious armed robber, Lawrence Anini (aka the Law), in March 1987; the arrest, trial and execution, in March 1986, of Major General Mamman Vatsa over an alleged military coup; how the popular Cocoa House in Dugbe, Ibadan was gutted by fire in the evening of 9 January, 1985; the death of the former Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, on 9 May, 1987; the killing, via parcel bomb, of the trail-blaizing investigative journalist, Dele Giwa, on 10 October, 1986.
In Chapters Five and Six of DOTUN OYELADE REPORTING…Memoirs of a Newshound, the author states the beginning of the decline at the TSOS, declaring that it started when the late Bola Ige lost out in the 1983 elections to his successor, Dr Omololu Olunloyo, and the political intrigues which he says played out at the television station, subsequently.
“It was a period when the spirit of comradeship, professionalism and competition all but disappeared at the TSOS and was replaced with intense backbiting, bickering, distrust and suspicions,” Oyelade writes.
The author writes about the circumstances of his exit from the television station in 1987 and his return to same station as the Chief Executive Officer, first, in 2001 during the Lam Adesina Adesina administration and, again, in 2019 till date.
Oyelade, in Chapter Seven of the book, recalls how he resisted the strong “The American Lure” after a Rotary International Exchange Programme in Alabama, US and returned home to BCOS in 1985.
Prince Oyelade, in Chapters Eight and Nine, recalls his foray into the world of publishing after leaving broadcast journalism and BCOS in 1987. Here, he writes about his work experience with two Ibadan-based publishing houses, Fountain Publications (1988) and Spectrum Books (1989).
In Chapter 10, the author recollects how he left Spectrum Books in 1991 to register his own company, Current Publications; and how he landed his “big hit”- a book on the late Eruwa, Oyo State-born businessman, politician and philanthropist, Chief Adeseun Ogundoyin. The book was delivered five days before the first anniversary of the death of Ogundoyin in 1992.
The author of DOTUN OYELADE REPORTING…Memoirs of a Newshound writes that the book on Ogundoyin was a major breakthrough for him. As he puts it, the profit of the “glossy coffee table book that encapsulate the active life of the accomplished business mogul”, was all he needed to roof his first house at age 39!!!
A consummate writer, the author, in Chapters 11 to 14, tells his story on: “The Broadcast Journalism” (1993); “Soun Ajagungbade III”, biography of the late Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Olasunni Oyewunmi (1995); his aborted biography on foremost industrialist and philanthropist, the late Chief Emmanuel Oyedele Ashamu, who died in 1992; “Destiny At Work”, a book on the late former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, launched on 3 June, 2009; and the biography of the late former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh (2015).
In Chapter 15, Prince Oyelade writes on his exploits at his company, Current Studios, diversifying from book publishing to setting up a commercial broadcast studio for video and audio recording and post-production.
He mentions some popular artistes from within Ibadan and Lagos that the studio played host to in the 1990s- Adebayo Salami (Oga Bello); Sunday Omobolanle (Aluwe); Jide Kosoko; Kareem Adepoju (Baba Wande); Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow); Lanre Hassan (Iya Awero); Iyabo Ogunsola (Efunsetan Aniwura); Mike Bamiloye (Mount Zion) and Anike Obot, among several others.
He states that several upcoming stars, musicians and producers rented cameras and other equipment of Current Studio to shoot films and also used the studio to edit their works.
“The Man, Dotun Oyelade”, in Chapter 16, dwells on the career and activities of the author, especially since his third sojourn at BCOS when he assumed office as the CEO in July 2019.
Chapter 17 is on how Festus Adedayo, a fiery newspaper columnist with a pen sharper than a double-edged sword, reminisced on “How Dotun Oyelade got a necklace off late former Governor Ajimobi’s neck”. Here, Adedayo, a former media aide of the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, recalled how Oyelade, in an opinion article, made the late former governor to drop his penchant for wearing necklace.
“The next day, the dangling necklace was missing on the governor’s neck; same on the third day and till I left the government in 2015, and I dare say, till his departure from this earth, the necklace became anathema on the neck of the amiable governor, no thanks, or thanks to Dotun Oyelade,” Adedayo wrote.
The latter part of Chapter 17 also contains views and opinions of colleagues (juniors, contemporaries and seniors) and friends on the “Man, Dotun Oyelade”.
Chapter 18 of the book contains testimonies from immediate members of the family of the author who was aptly described as a core family man.
Prince Dotun Oyelade’s wife of 43 years, and still counting, Funmilayo, describes her husband as her “priceless jewel”. The attestations of his three children- Oyedeji, Toyese and Gbemisola- reflect a busy man of books and letter but who is deeply and devotedly committed to the welfare of his family.
The closing part of the chapter, “Down Memory Lane”, contains pictorials of notable events in the life of Prince Dotun Oyelade. It contains some of his pictures, right from age one, through adolescent, to adulthood and his exploits as a broadcast journalist and as an administrator.
Indeed, the book, DOTUN OYELADE REPORTING…Memoirs of a Newshound, is a compelling read, especially for the broadcast journalist. It is a modest contribution to journalism, a masterpiece and a rare book on the life of an accomplished practitioner and astute administrator who has carved a niche for himself in the world of Broadcast Journalism.
©The reviewer, Dapo Falade, is the Publisher/CEO, Newscoven.ng
