“My growing days were challenge-filled” -Mr. Stephen Adewale, Ondo SDP Chairman

Stephen Adewale is a man of many parts. The part you want determines what you get. A broadcaster and in the last eighteen months, he has been steering the wheel of the Social Democratic Party in Ondo State. In this comprehensive interview with one of our correspondents, Stephen Adewale leads us through his life, challenges, success, and many more. This is his most detailed interview in recent times. Excerpt

 

Who is Stephen Adewale?
I am a man of many paths. The journey has not been straight and smooth but God has decided to make my life a testimony. I can therefore confidently assert that I am the man whom God has chosen to show unmerited grace to. My mother is from Erin Ijesa in Osun State, while my father is from Akure, the capital city of Ondo State, where I was born on August 3, 1982. I began my primary schooling in 1988 at Salvation Army Primary in Odo Ikoyi Akure, but I discontinued my studies in Primary Three due to a lack of funding. By God’s providence, I later attended Prospects High School in Akure without a primary school certificate. I was admitted to Obafemi Awolowo University in 2007 to pursue a history and international relations degree. Upon graduation, I observed my one-year compulsory National Youth Service at Osun State College of Education, Ilesa. After service, I returned to OAU as a Research Assistant and it was from that position that I left for Abuja to work as a Senior Research Associate for one of the leading policy-making organizations known as Africa Dialogue Mission (ADM). In September 2015, I was appointed the Director of the Africa Dialogue Mission (ADM). I was chosen by the UN in January 2016 to join the African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security. Additionally, I’ve had the honour of participating in two distinct committees for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). I started working in media in 2017, and I’ve since become heavily immersed in politics.

 

What was growing up like for you?
Childhood, for me, was very challenging. My growing days were challenge-filled. It was so difficult that it seemed to me this day would never come. Due to the mirage of challenges, I was never sure if I would get to 30. I was a victim of circumstances and childhood emotional and psychological abuse. It all started from childhood and gradually escalated to the point that I almost reached a dead end. I didn’t initially understand why. I was curious as to why my situation differed from that of other kids my age who were doing well. When I was six years old, my father sent my mother out of his house and abandoned us. I left school in 1991 and began working as a bus conductor at Ondo Garage in Akure from 1994 to 2001.

However, fortune smiled on me in March 2001 when a good Samaritan I barely knew took me back to school where I started from SSS1 at the age of 19. I was so elderly that neither the Principal nor the teachers thought I could excel. I was reluctantly permitted to SS1 due to my age with the caveat that I would be expelled for the slightest misbehaviour. As fate would have it, I not only graduated from the school but also passed my O-Level exams with flying colour. Another life battle started after secondary school as I needed to work as a cocoa labourer in Egbeta, Edo State for about three years to amass enough money to continue my academic education.

In 2006, I gained admission to Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo to study Yoruba. Despite the admission, I was dissatisfied with my course of study and had to sit for another UTME where I scored 300 to gain admission to Obafemi Awolowo University. Yes, growing up was not easy, but I am thankful because I saw God at every crossroads of my life.

 

From a journalist and now to a political stakeholder in Ondo State, how has the journey been so far?
The journey has not been easy but I think the political blood has always been in my veins. I recall that when there was an agitation for a change in leadership while I was a young man working for my boss as a boss conductor at the park in Akure, I was always a part of the placard carrier. I was so young at the time that I was known as “Kekere” in the park. I stood by the agitators through thick and thin, even though the agitation was invariably violent. In essence, there was a part of me that abhorred oppression. In any circle I find myself in, I always want to be a part of people who would promote constructive change. When I later gained Admission to Adeyemi College of Education, my resumption occurred at the same time that a Student Union Government President was being impeached for financial misconduct when I later received admission to Adeyemi College of Education. I joined the impeachment advocates right away, and because I was so involved, many people found it hard to believe that I had only just arrived at college. I later left Adeyemi College for OAU where I participated in Students’ Union politics, serving two terms as a member of the Students Representative Council (SRC) representing the Faculty of Arts. I coordinated the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) in Osun State while serving as a prominent member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) in OAU. I have therefore always had some level of political involvement.

 

I have been a reader of your intervention articles in Newspapers since 2020, despite your busy schedule you still write, how do you still find time to write?
As long as the fire to change the country’s narrative positively continues to burn, the time will always be created for writing. I never prayed to be so busy that I would be unable to put my thoughts down in writing. Even while I was an undergraduate student at OAU, I wrote from time to time despite the academic rigours of Great Ife. In fact, as an active member of the Students’ Union, Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), and Education Rights Campaign (ERC), in addition to writing and posting articles on various campus forums like Megaphone in OAU, I wrote almost every week to express my disapproval of the then Professor Faborode-led management’s anti-students’ policies. My work eventually changed as I began to concentrate on national issues. By the time I departed Ife in 2011 as a university graduate, I had gotten 46 articles successfully published in various national and international newspapers. Writing is therefore a hobby for me, and regardless of how busy I am, I make sure to set out at least one hour each day for reading and writing.

 

What inspired you to become a journalist?
I never imagined becoming a journalist, even though I have been writing and publishing articles since 2008 in a variety of print and online media. My initial goal was to become a university lecturer, and I pursued that goal fervently. In truth, I started writing academic papers early in my life as soon as I discovered that all I needed to succeed in the academic world was the publication of scholarly papers. While I was awaiting the mobilization of the NYSC, I prepared my first academic paper. Fortunately for me, I served at a college of education where I was exposed to academics, and by the time I left the institution as a corps member, I had published another academic paper. Immediately I saw the opportunity to work as a Research Assistant at OAU after my service, I jumped at the opportunity as I knew it was an easy pathway for me to achieve my dream. However, my life took a new turn in March 2014 when I received a call from Prince Adewole Adebayo. I had never met him before, but after reading one of my published essays on the need to redefine Nigeria’s Foreign Policy, he called to ask if I would be interested in working for a group that focuses on advancing change in Africa. I immediately accepted the offer because I was convinced it would provide me the chance to influence the government’s policy at the national level and to date, I have never regretted making that choice. It was in the course of working as a researcher that we saw the opportunity to create a media organization that would not only be impartial in its analysis of the day-to-day activities in the country but would also be able to train as many young people as possible. Therefore, effective in January 2017, I moved from being a full-time researcher into a new foray into journalism.

 

What are some of your career milestones so far?
They are too numerous to mention because the truth is that the journey has not been straight and the path has been very rough. No matter how rough, however, God has always been there for me, and I can always see His hands at work. However, some moments are unforgettable in my life. The first one happened when I was still a bus conductor at the park. I was traveling from Ore to Akure on this fateful day, and we picked up a man in Ore. The man told me he would pay for the two front seats when another passenger requested to sit in the front seat of the Liteace Bus my boss was operating at the time. The man was sitting in the front seat. We would have to pass via Adeyemi College of Education on our route from Ore, and when we arrived at the institution, we picked up some students who were going to Akure.

As customary, I requested the passengers to pay their fares from the back seats when we got to Aponmu, a town on the outskirts of Akure. At the time, the Federal Government had just begun issuing N500 notes, and the students sought to take advantage of me by giving me one of them while demanding absurd change in return. After the entire interaction between me and them, they started to compliment me on my patience as I meticulously arranged the money. The man in the front seat remained silent throughout our back-and-forth conversation, and when we arrived at the Total Fuel Station on Oba Adesida Road in Akure to drop off the passengers, he inquired as to why I was not enrolled in school. I explained to him my situation. I said yes when he asked if I wanted to go back to school. Then he instructed me to meet him the next day at the park. The following day, as he had promised, the man arrived in his automobile, and he drove me to Prospects High School Akure. That was how my seven-year stay in the park came to an end, and God led me back to the intellectual path.

The day I received the phone call from Prince Adewole Adebayo, who had never met me in person, inviting me to accept the ADM position in Abuja, was the second greatest moment in my life. I will always be grateful for the great way this call changed the course of my life. If it weren’t for that crucial phone in 2014, we wouldn’t be here right now conducting this interview.

The third milestone was my foray into journalism. We wanted to bring young Nigerians out of the unemployment pool by creating a company that would teach them what the Nigerian educational system could not. When we started KAFTAN TV, many people believed that the plan to train the young ones would not succeed. Today, the company has successfully trained over 3,000 youth who joined us through the NYSC Scheme.

The company has successfully produced a new set of young media personnel who are beginning to take their place in the country’s media space. Hardly can you mention any Television or radio stations in Nigeria where you would not find a KAFTAN TV alumnus. In fact, in recognition of our good job, NYSC during the 50th anniversary of its establishment on 18th May, 2023 conferred its Merit Award on KAFTAN TV. Even though I have made progress in many areas, this accomplishment—helping many Nigerian youths choose new paths—has remained my greatest to date. Along with the English channels, we now have Hausa and Yoruba channels, and the company still produces media manpower.

The fourth milestone was my foray into active politics and my emergence as the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ondo State in April 2022.

 

Would you be contesting for a political post in the future?
Although the future is in God’s hands, two years ago I would have never dreamed that I would be in charge of a political party in Ondo State. I’m here now. I therefore cannot completely state that I will not run for office in the future.

However, for the time being, I am just concerned with bettering the lot of my party and making sure that I work together with other KAFTAN TV employees who have good intentions to bring the television network to its desired destination.

 

How has it been leading the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Ondo State?
It has not been easy but I have seen the hands of God in the affairs of the party all along. We live in a State where APC and PDP have heavily monetized the political system. It is so horrible that, even if you have a brilliant concept, you might not succeed unless you toe a similar path. Political party affairs have now become a matter of “if you cannot win them, you join them.” Unfortunately, some party members are also towing this path and they always argue that SDP must also buy its way to power just like the other parties are doing. Political party affairs have now become a matter of “if you cannot win them, you join them.” Unfortunately, some party members are also towing this path and they always argue that SDP must also buy its way to power just like the other parties are doing. In such a situation, you have to be firm to ensure that you hold on to your policy and principles. Fortunately, there are still quite a few people who support what is morally correct, and who want the best for the party and the state. I would also love to thank the National Leaders of our Great Party for the opportunity they provided me to serve the Party in Ondo State. When I took over, I inherited a fragmented SDP with different factions in Ondo State. We engaged in a series of press battles and skirmishes with these foreign elements who were determined to destroy our Party in Ondo State; but in the end, we prevailed. I was able to establish party secretariats in thirteen local governments around the state in addition to the one we established for the Party in Akure. Additionally, we were successful in reintroducing the Party to Ondo State’s political discourse.

Let’s talk about KAFTAN TV, you are one of the general managers, how has it been working in that continental television?
The entire experience has been fantastic. I had the good fortune to meet the woman I eventually married thanks to KAFTAN TV. She was a corps member assigned to KAFTAN TV when we first met; today, she is the mother of my beautiful child and the dependable shoulder I lean on. Kehinde Adewale, nee Akinwale, is her name. The opportunity to work with brilliant young Nigerians at this company has also been a privilege for me. Yoruba Channel and Hausa Channel have been added after KAFTAN English News Channel first debuted in 2017. All three channels are available on StarTimes, however, our next target is to make sure that we quickly introduce one of the three channels on the DSTV platform.

 

Thank you for your time.

The pleasure is mine.