Prof. Olatunji Dare

A Commitment to Media Education and Journalism

Professor Olatunji Dare has recorded many firsts. He was the first to record a first class in mass communication when he graduated from the University of Lagos, Akoka in 1974. He was the first recipient of the Informed Commentary prize of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence in 1992 at the first presentation of DAME. Today, he is the first DAME title winner to also win its Lifetime Achievement award.

After graduating from the University of Lagos, Olatunji Dare obtained the Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University, New York, where he won the Robert Curry Prize in editorial writing, and a Ph.D. in communication research from Indiana University, specializing in International Communication and in Public Policy.

A respected communication scholar, teacher, author, satirist, columnist and editorialist, he is Professor of Communication, Emeritus, of Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USA in recognition of his 19 years of outstanding service. Whilst at Bradley, he won awards for excellence in teaching and research, and the President’s Award for meritorious service.

Before Bradley, he had served as chair of The Guardian Editorial Board and Editorial Page Editor. He also kept a weekly column widely appreciated for its wit, depth, and felicity of language. He also lectured in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos. He is the author of Matters Arising and Diary of a Debacle: Tracking Nigeria’s Failed Democratic Transition (1988-1994). As Lanre Idowu observed in a tribute to Professor Dare in Adebanwi’s book of 2015, “His published columns in two volumes, Matters Arising (1993) and Diary of a Debacle: Tracking Nigeria’s Failed Democratic Transition (1989-1994) (2010) remain useful guides to what it takes to craft informed commentaries. In his writings, he comes across as a forbearing teacher who will not give up on his errant students but task them to aim higher; a patriot who won’t quit on his country, but challenge it to greater heights, a democrat who believes in reasoned debates to advance the frontiers of civilized conduct and orderly development.”

When he turned 70 in July 2014 he was honoured in Lagos by colleagues, former students and admirers with a festschrift entitled, Public Intellectuals, the Public Sphere and the Public Spirit: Essays in Honour of Olatunji Dare, edited by Wale Adebanwi of the University of California-Davis, USA.

Professor Dare, an editorial adviser of The NATION since its inception, taught journalism and international communication at Bradley for 19 years until his retirement. Before then, he taught at the University of Lagos.

His sojourn in the United States was forced on him in 1996 when the government of General Sani Abacha hunted him out on account of the commentaries that were coming out of the Guardian.

Prof. Dare was awarded the Louis Lyons Prize for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism by the Harvard University-based Nieman Foundation, and the Hellmann-Hammett Grant for courage in the face of political persecution, presented by Human Rights Watch. He keeps a column, “At Home Abroad”, renowned for its wit, humour and clear-headedness in The NATION on Tuesdays.

For his admirable contributions to the development of the Nigerian media in the areas of Print Journalism and Media Education, for his lifelong devotion to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and strengthening the media as a pillar of democracy; for impacting the lives of many journalists and administrators who are today holding important positions in various media institutions worldwide, the trustees of DAME are delighted to confer on Professor Olatunji Dare the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.