In honour of Allah-De

Alade Odunewu is dead. The Dean of
Satirical Writing (a la Dr. Nnamdi
Azikiwe) is no more. He finally lost the
long battle to death. He was at death's
door when I visited him at the hospital
in January this year. But being Allah-
De, he courageously hung in there and
was on the mend a couple of months
later.
My friend, Jagunmolu Duro Onabule's
precise voicemail message jolted me,
"Odunewu is dead." Allah Akbar! A
great mould is crashed. A strategic
generational link is severed. Exiting at
Ramadan season, a time he himself
would have chosen had death sought
his opinion, Hadj Odunewu, a devout,
but liberal Muslim, who did not stand
on ceremony on matters of religion,
must have laughed mirthfully at
Death…Dearie me!
Odunewu was an icon of Nigerian
journalism. He started as a cub
reporter drawing a huge influence from
his brother, Mr. Mobolaji Odunewu, a
prominent editor of one of Zik's
newspapers in the East of the Niger.
The senior Odunewu later became a
Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry
of Information.
Allah-De quickly established himself
and in no time had learnt the ropes in
the newsrooms of the Daily Times,
Daily Service/Service Magazine and the
Nigerian Tribune. "Those were days
when you left home to work in one
newspaper and ended up with a by-
line on another," he once told me
reminiscing humorously on the
uncertainty of employment for
journalists in his days. You were not
sure when, how or where the next
salary would come from. It was as if
there was an unwritten caveat
between proprietors and their staff.
But the joy of having your story
published with a by-line was satisfying
for reporters.
He forged ahead; immersing himself in
a profession that made you popular but
impoverished you and sometimes
made you a regular "friend of the
Police." You were either fortunate or a
spineless coward if you never had a
brush with the law in your career.
His lucky break came when he earned a
British Council scholarship to read
Journalism at the School of Modern
Languages in London. He took the
opportunity to gain experience working
for various newspapers in Britain. He
emerged from the school as the best
Commonwealth student winning the
prize donated by The New Statesman
newspaper. He would later work as
Managing Editor, Nigerian Tribune;
Editor, Sunday Times and Editor, Daily
Times.
Odunewu was my mentor. Just one
interview with the renowned
Muhammed Ali in 1964 brought me to
his attention. The late Ademola Idowu,
then his production editor on the
Sunday Times saw me writing the
exclusive story in the Daily Times
newsroom on his way to the "chase
room." He stopped by wondering what
kept me late in the office. He
screamed when he read what the
typewriter was reeling off. Odunewu
decided to use the story as the front
lead in the next edition of the Sunday
Times. When he eventually became
Editor, Daily Times in December 1964,
one of the innovations he brought with
him was the introduction of the Paul
Pry's Diary, a thrice-weekly diary of
social events, which I wrote with
consummate affection from 1964 to
1968. He was an old established hand
in the business of satirical writing. To
have been in his company for one hour
was to have sipped satisfactorily from
his inexhaustible fountain of knowledge
of the "world and its tenants." He was
just his pleasant, amiable self. Always.
No cant. Just plain, good-natured Allah-
De.
He was a man of serenity. A man of
vision and determination. Allah-De was
a man of humility and perseverance.
His ultimate passing at 85 should be
celebrated with gratitude to God for
his remarkable achievements. I will
miss him in a very personal sense. But
we shall always remember this:
"It goes on, regardless of what happens
to any of us, mortals; no matter which
player quits the stage or which one has
just taken a bow to start his own
performance. And the more one thinks
about it, the more incomprehensible it
appears, this phenomenon. Yes, life
simply goes on." (Extracted from, "And
Life Goes On", written on December
22, 1963 and published in his book,
Winner Takes All).
Good night, Allah-De.
Ajibade Fasina-Thomas
Douglasville, Georgia
USA