The Man, Babafemi Ojudu - Profile Of The New Special Adviser To The President On Political Matters

Profile of the new Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Senator Babafemi Ojudu as his Special Adviser on Political Matters. Ojudu, a Senator who represented Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Upper Legislative Chamber of the 7th National Assembly, received the letter containing his appointment on Tuesday. Ojudu, a foremost journalist and former Managing Editor of the Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of TheNews, PM News and Tempo was a senator between 2011 and 2015 on the platform of then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, before the merger that transformed it into the All Progressives Congress, APC. He was the Vice Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Senate and spokesman for the APC Senate Caucus. In December 2014, he announced his desire not to seek reelection into the Senate but he has continued to play prominent roles in the activities of his party, the APC leading to the success of his party at the 2015 presidential polls. Ojudu was one of the victims of the military brutality as a result of the courageous roles played by him and his colleagues during the brutal military regimes, notably the dark days of the Abacha government. This constantly pitched him against the military authorities and he was incacerated several times, the climax of which was his nine month detention in a solitary cell at the State Security Service, SSS, cell at Awolowo Road Ikoyi, Lagos. The Man, Babafemi Ojudu Babafemi Ojudu was born on 27 March 1961 at Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State. He attended Ado Grammar School in Ado-Ekiti between 1973 and 1977. In 1976 he won a scholarship jointly sponsored by activist lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Jùjú musician King Sunny Adé for indigent students of the state. He proceeded to the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, to study English where he took interest in journalism. While at university he joined the Association of Campus Journalists, reporting for COBRA, a Campus Journal. He and two friends founded a journal called The Parrot, which he edited until graduating in 1984. He worked as a reporter on completing his National Youth Service with The Guardian while attending the University of Lagos between 1985 and 1986 where he studied for a master's degree in Political Science. The new presidential appointee moved to African Concord in 1987 as a Staff Writer and rose to become the Assistant Editor. In 1992 Ojudu resigned in protest of a request by the Publisher of Concord, the late business mogul, Chief M.K.O. Abiola to apologise to the then military President, Ibrahim Babangida over a piece critical of the military regime. In 1993, together with some of his former colleagues, they established The News magazine, with Ojudu as its first Managing Editor. Gani Fawehinmi assisted in funding the newspaper with a contribution of N25,000. The first version of The News did not last long before it was banned by Babangida in 1993. Years later, when Babangida said he was in interested in running for president in the 2011 democratic elections, Ojudu said that the second coming of Babangida to rule the nation should be resisted by every Nigerian who wanted progress for the country. He said "He does not have anything good to offer us. We have suffered enough in his hands... He is a trickster. Look at how many journalists were killed during his time. Look at what he did to our colleagues (journalists)... Look at what happened to our institutions when he was around. He destroyed the system and he is now seeking to come back. " Ojudu was arrested, tortured and detained several times during the draconian days of the Sani Abacha regime. He was arrested and detained for three days at the notorious Shagisha prison in the outskirts of Lagos on 11 August 1996. The cause was an article in The News about Oil Minister Dan Etete which alleged that Etete was giving government contracts on behalf of the Nigerian State Oil Company to his family and friends. Later in 1996 Ojudu went to the USA for six months as a fellow at the School of Communications, Howard University, Washington, D.C. On his return in June 1997 he was appointed Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network Ltd., publishers of The News, P.M. News and Tempo. He was arrested on 17 November 1997 after returning from a conference in Kenya. In July 1998 (after the death of Abacha) it was reported that he was suffering from typhoid fever and jaundice, both life-threatening, caused by the unsanitary conditions in which he was detained and denial of access to medication. In addition to his Managing Editor work, both before and after the return to democracy Ojudu has been a member or chairman of several organizations and committees involved in media and human rights. In total, Ojudu spent 26 years in media practice before entering politics in 2010. Political career Ojudu formally declared that he would run for the Senate in August 2010. He left his post as Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network to run for office. The 10 January, 2011 primaries for ACN candidate for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat were held in three of the five local government areas that make up the Senatorial district, and Ojudu won in all three. In the April 2011 election for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat, Ojudu polled 67,747 running on the ACN platform. Labour Party (LP) candidate and former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose received 29,773 votes. Kayode Alufa of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) received 29,488 votes. The election, although contested at the courts later confirmed Babafemi Ojudu as the validly elected senator to represent the Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, where he offered his constituents quality representation until he voluntarily left at the expiration of the 7th legislative session. The new Special Adviser to the President has been posted to work at the Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Source: Tempo Online