Giwa And Beatification Of The Pen

Last Monday, 19th October 2026, marked exactly four decades after the angel of death violently claimed the life of the Founding Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa, through a parcel bomb, sending waves of fear ripping across a country that was then basking in the sunrise of a warm relationship between the media and the military regime, headed by General  Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. With Giwa’s death, accusing fingers were pointed at both the State Security Services (SSS) and the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), headed by AK Togun and Col. Halilu Akilu, respectively. Two days before his murder,  the ace journalist had been grilled by SSS operatives over some columns he authored in the ‘Newswatch’ magazine, including an alleged plot to stage a socialist revolution.

Who Killed Giwa?

Since the death of Newswatch’s founding Editor-in-Chief, the nation has been preoccupied with the task of searching for his killers.  Leading this charge was Fawehinmi, who resorted to the courts to secure permission to prosecute the heads of the two security agencies involved in the interrogation of the journalist before his murder.  In a landmark case, Fawehinmi v. Akilu & Anor (1987), the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Fawehinmi’s favour in December 1987 when it set aside the verdict of both the High Court and Appeal Court in Lagos that dismissed Fawehinmi’s applications because he lacked the right to prosecute Togun and Akilu over the matter. The Apex Court ruled that, in criminal matters, particularly murder, “every citizen is their brother’s keeper”.  The court granted Fawehinmi leave to apply for an Order of Mandamus to compel the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to prosecute heads of both the SSS and DMI. If they declined, the Justices endorsed a certificate allowing Fawehinmi to proceed with a private criminal prosecution. The case returned to the Lagos High Court, and Justice Eniola Longe quashed it in February 1988 because the information lacked merit and substance.

Fawehinmi would later revive moves to have both the two military officers and General Babangida appear before the Oputa Panel that conducted its proceedings between October 200  and October 2001. IBB refused the panel’s invitation, stressing that he would not get a fair hearing or justice. Through his counsel, the former military president said he feared the panel would become a media spectacle meant to humiliate him rather than find the truth. Besides arguing that the panel lacked tight procedural control, IBB’s lawyers expressed apprehension that the witness box would be reduced to rehashing issues that have been dealt with in 1987 and dismissed by Justice Longe, including cross-examining him over unrelated, highly sensitive political matters that included the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the Ejigbo military plane crash, among others. After yet another round of legal fireworks, the Apex Court ruled that the panel had no power to summon IBB because it could not issue a summons.

Press Freedom Sacrifice

The 40th anniversary of Giwa’s death this Monday came with a new focus on remembering the murdered journalist. Former colleagues of the pioneer Editor-in-Chief of ‘Newswatch’ launched ‘Dele Giwa’s Granite Journalism’, led by the magazine’s only surviving founder, Ray Ekpu, shifting the focus from four decades of ‘who killed Giwa’ to documenting his journalistic footprints.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ‘The Cable’ online platform, Simon Kolawole, whose review of the book was titled ‘The Pen That Outlived The Bomb ’, noted: “One of the tragedies of Dele Giwa’s assassination is that the manner of his death has sometimes overshadowed the magnificence of his life. The parcel bomb has threatened to become more famous than the pen. His murder has remained a subject of public fascination, sometimes at the expense of his extraordinary contributions to Nigerian journalism.”

Describing the book as “a necessary correction that reminds us that before Dele Giwa became a martyr of press freedom”, Kolawole added that Giwa “was, first and foremost, an outstanding journalist, a compelling storyteller and a writer of uncommon gifts.” According to Kolawole, the book comprises “74 pieces written by Giwa himself, two interviews with him and 16 tributes by some of the finest journalists and writers of his generation, some of whom are now of blessed memory.”

Epitome Of Excellence

Beyond the ‘literary elegance’ that Giwa demonstrated while he lived, Kolawole said the book “reminds us that he was also a journalist of strong convictions. His articles on press freedom, censorship, political power and professional ethics demonstrate an abiding concern for the role of journalism in society.”

As Dele Giwa declared, a journalist’s major pre-occupation is to state the truth and hold systems and their agents accountable for the overall good of society. The killers of Giwa may remain unknown, but remembering and documenting his footprints and legacy honours what he stood for and offers enduring illumination and guidance for future generations to be inspired by and emulate the excellence he demonstrated as a journalist. If the justice system, according to Ekpu, has failed to resolve the mystery behind the killing, Giwa’s colleagues must be commended for dwelling on the indelible footprints he left in the growth of Nigeria’s media profession.

We should never waste energy probing the rubble of the past. Media practitioners must never allow his violent murder to dwarf the grandeur of the journalism profession he practised.  We have mourned Giwa for a long time. Let his words console us: “No evil deed will go unpunished. Any evil done by man to man will be redressed, if not now, then later; if not by man, then by God.”