Akeem Lasisi
As larger-than-life OVATION Publisher, Chief Dele Momodu, clocks 60, time is sensationally telling the story of his life.
Momodu is one Nigerian/African journalist who has exceptionally impacted on the profession, not only setting the pace in celebrity media, but also so much immersing himself in the calling to the extent that his life has become the art and science of it.
But as huge as his fame is, the man, whose story buttresses the Achebe/Things Fall Apart‘s proverb, that, looking at a king’s mouth, you would think he never sucked at his mother’s breasts, has had to cry like a slave on some occasions – literally and metaphorically.
One one of such, he weeweed on his body like a baby, with all the glamour that radiates around his opulent size disappearing the way hair disappears from the body of the water yam at the mercy of fire. That day, Bob Dee, as Momodu is fondly called, was at the mercy of Lagos armed robbers.
The tale is one of the inspiring one that his friend and colleague, Kunle Bakare, tells in a tribute he carved for him to mark the 60th birthday.
Bakare, the Encomium Publisher, notes in the tribute titled ‘Ovation for Basorun Dele Momodu at 60: 6 precepts from the life of ‘A de k’ilu mo’:
“Bob Dee (the nickname that accompanied Basorun Dele Momodu from Ile Ife, the university town in Osun State) has had his fair share –and some I witnessed were heart-wrenching. Once, when his car was snatched somewhere in Maryland, he was weeping as he narrated the story to me. The robbers had tormented him, driven him around a bit before kicking him out of the car. He urinated in his pants and was lucky to be ferried by a taxi driver who consoled him as he broke down: ‘Eni ija oba, l’onpe ‘ra e l’okunrin (it’s only the untested that chants I am a man’).”
Concerning one of the principles that made Momodu the enviable success he is today, Bakere explains that it is important to cultivate people and institutions that can help transform one’s dream into reality.
Stressing that it is good to ‘Court those who can advance your dream’, he adds, “As a young lad in Ile Ife, he mastered the art of nurturing enduring relationships. And in his corner were longtime friends like Messrs. Diran Akintola (son of the second Premier of Western Region, Sir Samuel Ladoke Akintola), Wole Adelalakun (law lecturer relation of legendary politician Chief Busari Adelakun), Dokun Abolarin (lawyer and lecturer who is now the King of Oke Ila Orangun in Osun State) and Damola Aderemi (the lawyer grandson of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi).
In Lagos, there were Messrs Segun Adegbesan (who first accommodated him) and Biodun Ogunsakin (who cushioned his relocation).
“It was not difficult for him to attract Chief MKO Abiola, Dr Mike Adenuga Jnr, and Mr Femi Otedola’s attention in Lagos after his arrival here in 1988 as he bent backwards to show a clean hand of loyalty.
“In rain and sunshine, Bob Dee stood with those he counted as friends, mentors and benefactors.”
Meanwhile, enjoy this video:
