Akinnola: Dogged Journalist, activist trudges on at 63

Accolades rained on vibrant and indefatigable Richard Akinnola on Monday, August 23, 2021, as he strutted proudly round the Ijakadi Hall of the Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA, Ikeja welcoming guests who came to honour him as he celebrated his 63^rd birthday with a lecture bordering on the insecurity situation in  Nigeria.

Irrepressible as ever and with his famous gap-toothed smile, ‘Baba Richie’, in full boyish swagger and characteristic Ondo pride, welcomed and exchanged banter with the assorted crowd of dignitaries, made up of journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and social influencers. He felt at home in all the constituencies.

And the respected, veteran journalist, lawyer, author and social critic had his day in the sun as he was robustly celebrated as ‘a man driven by a passion for justice and fairness, a man with the courage of his convictions and an outstanding fighter for all that is right and noble, always speaking out and supporting social justice and public-spirited causes and all manner of progressive ideas’.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said this much in his video message.

Vice President Osinbajo also recollected Richard Akinnola’s early days in the eighties, as a ‘respected judicial correspondent and one of the earliest civil rights activists’.’ ‘’Richard is not only (a journalist), a learned colleague but is also a dear friend of mine and a man of many gifts and talents. Always multitasking, lawyer, journalist, activist and author of books on media, law, human rights, politics and other issues of national development. I hear he has now added another feather to his cap as a social media influencer,’’ he added.

In a similar vein, Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who delivered the highly cerebral lecture on Nigeria’s state of insecurity, described Richard Akinnola as one of Nigeria’s leading intellectuals, Journalist, author, Legal Practitioner and civil society Icon;  ‘someone who always speaks truth to power’’ in his writings and comments on social media.

The choice of the lecture topic;” Security Challenges in Nigeria and its Implications for Sustainable Development,” testified to Richard’s desire to use his birthday and forum to speak truth to power.

The celebrated and outstanding fighter also supports social justice and public-spirited causes with the Richard Akinnola Foundation which has for more than a decade ago focused on the welfare of widows of journalists and activists.

Born in Akure, Ondo state, Richard Akinnola attended St Thomas Primary School, Akure; Aquinas College, Akure, Christ School, Ado Ekiti; School of Journalism, Berkshire, UK. Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, University of Leicester UK, International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France.

His journalism fervour started so young in his teens. The native of Ondo town had a disciplined childhood under a strict father, Richard honed his skills as a fighter for people’s rights, as a writer and an opinion moulder.  His journalism career bloomed when he started reporting court stories on the Judicial beat of The Guardian, particularly when he covered the Decree 4 trial of Messrs Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson of The Guardian.  He was a pioneer staff of the Vanguard in 1984 where he ran a weekly Law column. It was in the course of his judicial reporting that he became close to late Chief Gani Fawehinmi who played a key role in his life.

Today, he is the author of over 24 books covering media, law, Human Rights and politics.

A grateful Richard Akinnola attributes his living up to 63 years to God and his resilience, even in the face of adversity. ‘’I am alive today by the special grace of God and I have every reason to thank God for what he has done in my life. They are too numerous to begin to mention’’, he enthused.

An amused Vice President Osinbajo sums it all up with a message to the irrepressible journalist and activist.

‘’Richard, I have the mandate of our friends to now ask that as you turn 63, you must realize that you are nearing 70, and you must slow down’’.