Dele Olojede
Encyclopedia
Dele Olojede is a Nigeria
n Pulitzer Prize
-winning journalist and former foreign editor for Newsday
. Olojede was the first Africa
n-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
, a newspaper owned by aspiring political figure Moshood Abiola. Olojede left the paper in 1984 after he became concerned that Abiola was using the paper to advance his personal political ambitions.
Olojede enrolled at the University of Lagos
where he studied journalism. As a student he was particularly influenced by Nigerian literary luminaries like Chinua Achebe
, Wole Soyinka
and Cyprian Ekwensi
and other African writers like Ngugi wa Thiong'o
.
Olojede became one of the founding staff writers of a Nigerian news magazine called Newswatch in 1984. The magazine was edited by Dele Giwa
, a well-known Nigerian journalist who was killed by a mail bomb on October 19, 1986. Olojede publicly accused Nigeria's military leader Ibrahim Babangida
of being responsible for the murder. In 2001, eight years after leaving power, Babangida refused to testify before a human rights court about the murder.
A 1986 investigative report on the imprisonment of the popular Nigerian musician Fela Kuti
led to Kuti's release and the dismissal of the judge who imprisoned him. In 1987, Olojede's efforts earned him a US$
26,000 Ford Foundation
Scholars grant which Olojede used to get a master's degree at Columbia University
. At Columbia he won the Henry N. Taylor Award for outstanding foreign student. Olojede eventually became a U.S.-Nigeria dual citizen.
, the Long Island
-based newspaper, as a summer intern. He eventually became a special writer covering minority affairs. In 1992 he began work on loan to the paper's foreign desk, making several trips to South Africa
. He became the paper's United Nations
bureau chief and then an Africa correspondent, based in Johannesburg
, South Africa.
Olojede later worked as a correspondent in China
, then returned to Long Island where he became foreign editor of Newsday. In 2003, Olojede took an opportunity to return to Africa as a correspondent to write about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
, ten years later.
In April 1994, when the genocide broke out in Rwanda, Olojede was covering the South African general elections
, the first free elections at the end of apartheid. Olojede has said that while the South Africa story was important, he has often wondered if he could have helped the situation in Rwanda if he had gone there instead.
Olojede's 2004 series on the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide was well received. One story that drew particular attention was "Genocide's Child" about a mother who was raising a son conceived during a gang rape during the war.
In 2005, Olojede won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
for his "fresh, haunting look at Rwanda a decade after rape and genocidal slaughter had ravaged the Tutsi tribe." The series was viewed as a major accomplishment for black journalists. Olojede was assisted by African American photographer J. Conrad Williams, and much of the series was edited by Lonnie Isabel, another African American journalist who was the assistant managing editor for national and foreign coverage.
By the time he won the Pulitzer, Olojede had already left Newsday. The Tribune Company
had purchased Newsday from its previous owners in 2000, and by 2004 were trying to trim costs. At the end of 2004, Newsday offered a round of buyouts. On December 10, 2004, Olojede took the buyout and moved to Johannesburg, where he was living when he learned he had won the Pulitzer.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning journalist and former foreign editor for Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
. Olojede was the first Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Biography
Olojede was born the eleventh of 28 children. In 1982, he began his journalism career at the National Concord in LagosLagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, a newspaper owned by aspiring political figure Moshood Abiola. Olojede left the paper in 1984 after he became concerned that Abiola was using the paper to advance his personal political ambitions.
Olojede enrolled at the University of Lagos
University of Lagos
The University of Lagos - popularly known as Unilag - is a federal government university with a main campus located at Akoka, Yaba and a college of medicine located at Idi-Araba, all in Lagos, Lagos State, southern Nigeria...
where he studied journalism. As a student he was particularly influenced by Nigerian literary luminaries like Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...
, Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
and Cyprian Ekwensi
Cyprian Ekwensi
Cyprian Ekwensi, MFR was a Nigerian short story writer and author of children's books.-Early life, education and family:Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in Minna, Niger State...
and other African writers like Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan author, formerly working in English and now working in Gĩkũyũ. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature...
.
Olojede became one of the founding staff writers of a Nigerian news magazine called Newswatch in 1984. The magazine was edited by Dele Giwa
Dele Giwa
Dele Giwa was a Nigerian journalist, editor and founder of Newswatch magazine, who was killed by a mail bomb in his home on 19 October 1986...
, a well-known Nigerian journalist who was killed by a mail bomb on October 19, 1986. Olojede publicly accused Nigeria's military leader Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Babangida
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida CFR DSS mni , popularly known as IBB, was a Nigerian Army officer and military ruler of Nigeria...
of being responsible for the murder. In 2001, eight years after leaving power, Babangida refused to testify before a human rights court about the murder.
A 1986 investigative report on the imprisonment of the popular Nigerian musician Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
led to Kuti's release and the dismissal of the judge who imprisoned him. In 1987, Olojede's efforts earned him a US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
26,000 Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Scholars grant which Olojede used to get a master's degree at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. At Columbia he won the Henry N. Taylor Award for outstanding foreign student. Olojede eventually became a U.S.-Nigeria dual citizen.
Newsday
On June 6, 1988, Olojede joined NewsdayNewsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, the Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
-based newspaper, as a summer intern. He eventually became a special writer covering minority affairs. In 1992 he began work on loan to the paper's foreign desk, making several trips to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He became the paper's United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
bureau chief and then an Africa correspondent, based in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa.
Olojede later worked as a correspondent in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, then returned to Long Island where he became foreign editor of Newsday. In 2003, Olojede took an opportunity to return to Africa as a correspondent to write about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
, ten years later.
In April 1994, when the genocide broke out in Rwanda, Olojede was covering the South African general elections
South African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
, the first free elections at the end of apartheid. Olojede has said that while the South Africa story was important, he has often wondered if he could have helped the situation in Rwanda if he had gone there instead.
Olojede's 2004 series on the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide was well received. One story that drew particular attention was "Genocide's Child" about a mother who was raising a son conceived during a gang rape during the war.
In 2005, Olojede won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
for his "fresh, haunting look at Rwanda a decade after rape and genocidal slaughter had ravaged the Tutsi tribe." The series was viewed as a major accomplishment for black journalists. Olojede was assisted by African American photographer J. Conrad Williams, and much of the series was edited by Lonnie Isabel, another African American journalist who was the assistant managing editor for national and foreign coverage.
By the time he won the Pulitzer, Olojede had already left Newsday. The Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
had purchased Newsday from its previous owners in 2000, and by 2004 were trying to trim costs. At the end of 2004, Newsday offered a round of buyouts. On December 10, 2004, Olojede took the buyout and moved to Johannesburg, where he was living when he learned he had won the Pulitzer.
Back to Africa
As of 2006, Olojede was living in Johannesburg with his wife and two daughters Oyinkan and Ngozi. In November 2006, the East African Standard reported that Olojede was hoping to launch a daily newspaper that would be distributed across the entire African continent.Awards
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Olojede has won several journalism awards.- 1995 Publisher's Award from Newsday
- 1995 Educational Press of America Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Educational Journalism
- 1992 Unity Award from Lincoln University
- 1992 Media Award from the Press Club of Long Island