“I don’t want to be killed like Uncle Dele,” How Ray Ekpu’s 5-year-old son abandoned journalism dream after Giwa’s murder

Veteran journalist and co-founder of Newswatch magazine, Ray Ekpu, has recalled how the assassination of Dele Giwa, the magazine’s founding editor-in-chief, made his five-year-old son abandon his ambition to become a journalist.

Ekpu spoke on Monday at the launch of Dele Giwa’s Granite Journalism at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in Lagos.

The book chronicles some of the writings of the late journalist for Daily Times, Sunday Concord and Newswatch magazine.

Giwa was killed on October 19, 1986, after a parcel bomb delivered to his residence in Ikeja, Lagos, exploded.

The incident occurred during the military administration of Ibrahim Babangida, who ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993.

Recalling his close relationship with Giwa, Ekpu said their families lived in a duplex in Ikeja and related well with each other.

He said his son had wanted to become a journalist like Giwa but changed his mind days after the assassination.

“My five-year-old son used to tell me that he would like to be a journalist like Daddy Uncle Dele. But a few days after Dele’s assassination, my son came to me and said, ‘Daddy, I have changed my mind,’ Ekpu said.

“I asked him, ‘You changed your mind about what? He said, ‘I don’t want to be a journalist anymore.’ I asked him, Why?’ And he said, ‘I don’t want to be killed like Uncle Dele.’”

He said the incident showed that even a five-year-old child understood the dangers associated with journalism.

“Today, the guy works in a different profession far away from journalism,” he said.

Ekpu said efforts by the Newswatch and members of the media community to secure justice for Giwa had been unsuccessful in the 40 years since his assassination.

He said the Newswatch team worked for several years with their lawyer and friend, the late Gani Fawehinmi, to seek justice for Giwa, but “the forces of oppression” frustrated their efforts.

“So, at this point, all we can do is to leave the criminals who assassinated our partner, friend and brother in the able hands of God Almighty because the good Lord says vengeance is mine,” he said.

Ekpu said the launch of Giwa’s Granite Journalism was not intended to mourn the late journalist but to “give presence to his absence”.

The veteran journalist said the book, which he edited, contains Giwa’s articles published in Daily Times, Sunday Concord and Newswatch, two interviews he granted to a radio station and a newspaper, as well as essays on his journalism and legacy by 16 Nigerian writers.

He described journalism as a dangerous profession, noting that journalists face risks while covering protests, riots, political campaigns and wars.

He said the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that 128 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025.

“In Nigeria, many journalists have been killed in the last 40 years without any punishments for the perpetrators,” he said.

The veteran journalist noted that credible journalism is rooted in the pursuit of truth, adding that those opposed to the truth often target journalists.

“And telling truths is like pregnancy, something you cannot hide for too long,” he said, citing Niyi Osundare’s book titled “Truth Is Trouble”.

“But I say to you, whether truth is trouble or not, truth must be told if society is to move in the right direction. And those who work in the profession of truth-telling ought to be protected in Nigeria. But they are punished rather than protected,” he added.

Ekpu lamented what he described as the lack of serious efforts by the government at all levels to address the killing of journalists, saying many had been killed for no other reason than telling the truth.

“Whoever said that ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’ did not have Nigeria in mind,” he said.

Ekpu also described Giwa as a patriot who used his journalism to fight for a better Nigeria.

“Dele Giwa was a patriot to his fingertips. He fought many battles with his pen for a better Nigeria,” he said.

He added that journalists and organisations had named several buildings after Giwa in recognition of his legacy.

However, he said more work is needed to achieve the Nigeria the late journalist had envisioned.

“It is not yet Uhuru. It is not yet time for journalists to relax because there is still a lot of work to do to achieve the goal of having a better Nigeria than what we have now,” Ekpu said.