Text of a speech delivered by Gbenga Omotoso, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, at the celebration of Prof. Olatunji Dare’s 80th birthday, organised by The Nation and the Nigeria Guild of Editors on July 17, 2024, at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos I am really excited to be the lead speaker on this important occasion put together by an important organisation in celebration of the birthday of a very important personality (VIP). I do not know how the Guild of Editors chose me for this all-important task.
Am I the most qualified to do justice to the theme of the day, “Same craft, changing times—the columnist as societal conscience”? I do not think so; there are many literary criticism experts who can do a good job with this theme. Incidentally, some of them are sitting right here in this hall. Nevertheless, I thank The Guild and “The Nation” for this rare opportunity.
I may claim not to be an authority in dealing with the matter at hand, but I cannot, in good conscience, insist that I do not know the subject of this gathering well enough to say a few words about him. In other words, permit me not to dwell only on the writings of Prof. Olatunji Dare, one of Nigeria’s best-known journalists, journalism educators, and public intellectuals who, no doubt and by all standards, has remained the conscience of society.
I would like to look at our man beyond his art because he has had so much influence on many of us in the course of being a teacher, a .
