In November 1985, the Obafemi Awolowo University (then University of Ife) hosted the trio of the late Dele Giwa, Yakubu Mohammed and Ray Ekpu. On that day, the entire campus was in a frenzy as the celebrated journalists fielded questions from members of the association of campus journalists inside Oduduwa Hall. With Professor Wande Abimbola (‘Babalawo’) as our Vice Chancellor at that period, Ife was a place to dream. And if there was anything that the trio did that day, it was to inspire many of us into believing that journalism is a calling that can be both professionally fulfilling and financially rewarding if done the right way.
Going through the memoir of Mr Yakubu Mohammed, ‘Beyond Expectations’, a copy of which he graciously sent to me two weeks ago, I cannot but reflect on my own journey as a reporter and how people like him contributed in no small way to fire our imaginations.