WHILE I recoiled in bed one morning, waiting for the right time to begin the day’s itinerary, my mobile phone rang. Calling was a man I respected so much, a reputable grandfather in my profession…
“Hello, e k’aaro, sir.”
“Sam! Where are you?!” came the abrupt question. It was thunderous in its usual huskiness.
“I’m at home, sir…”
“… Home, where? Ado Ekiti or Ibadan?”
“Ado Ekiti. I’m in Ado Ekiti, sir.” I expected an assignment and braced myself for errands. I figured he needed me to do some things for him. It was not unusual.
“Come to the house right away. You need to see me, your story today has caused a serious mayhem in the farmsteads,” he announced. The urgency in his voice told me the seriousness in his call. It was unmistakable Mr Olutade Makinde.
I sprang into some clothes and went to him. His home was already a rowdy convergence when I got there. Angry and aggressive young people he had been pacifying as a result of my story were passionately asking his permission to “go after them”. It was a story about a land dispute between the Adoloju and Bisaya families in Ado Ekiti. I had written it from a statement personally signed by the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, and I told Mr. Olutade Makinde so.
“Are you sure?” I knew he only sought my sincerity, and I would not tell him lies. To further solidify my case, I went and brought a copy of the statement. It was signed with blue ink…
He said, “I knew you would not do anything like that… I told them Sam will not fabricate a story. Thank you for proving me right.”
He called me further aside and advised on “the two most dangerous and volatile stories in journalism: Chieftaincy matters and land dispute.”
His joy that I didn’t disappoint was my joy and relief that morning and thereafter. He charged me to maintain the reputation. Of course, Daddy… We bonded the more. But shortly after, his son, Tade Makinde II called and tersely said, “Daddy is dead.”
Since that sad news and the burial of one of the best entertainment journalists in Nigeria, Tade Makinde II brought people from journalism and entertainment realms to present a book he had written in memory of his father.
The gathering at the legendary Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, was not one usual remembrance because of who was involved and what was being done. It, however, appeared regular because of the faces, the tone, and the ambience. It was a blend of everything: academic, social, cultural and all. There was a lot outside the normal when the man who literally defined entertainment journalism in his hey days, Gabriel Olutade Makinde, was crowned as the king by his children, who were joined by their father’s associates, acolytes, partners, friends, and well wishers.
Tade Makinde II unveiled a very unique and different book about his father, Tade Makinde. The book excellent and a brilliant effort, in the words of another brilliant sojourner, Dr YemiFarounbi, is not a typical biography. ‘Olu Makinde: Master of His Game’ is a part-biography which highlights some of the innumerable plies of entertainment which Olu Makinde unfurled through his unmatched verve in entertainment journalism. Through ‘Olu Makinde: Master of His Game’ Tade Makinde II reminisced on his father who was a king; a king who defied “rain”, and stood against “flood” which came to uproot his house. Tade Makinde II has done his bit by bringing this king, who could not be stopped, to our notice.
For a tease, the book has a collection of veritable Nigerians with whom Olu Makinde had dealings in differing ways and times at his work and his family life. Then, these Nigerians discuss their knowledge of why Makinde is the “master of his game” especially as it concerns the crowning of Sunny Ade as the “king of music” in 1977 a life-changing event which Olu Makinde midwifed as the Editor of The Entertainer magazine. It is a pointer to how the eternally admired name: ‘King Sunny Ade’ came to be. For musical experiences and expectations, young people of today are just like the young ones of the days we were coming from, but we must not ignore foundations and the knowledge of the past. ‘Olu Makinde: Master of His Game’ is one free-flowing history masterclass for the young, the young at heart, and the old. It is also a resource for entertainment journalists and all who have something to do with the vast world of entertainment.
To those in the fluid terrain called entertainment, and the very deep in entertainment enterprise, it is obvious to see the work as one of the clearest pointers to a profitable venture. Need we further point it out to the eagle-eyed filmmakers? This is already a ripening fruit for the taking and there is the need to take a deeper look at what Olu Makinde has bequeathed our economy through that aspect of our national life. And now, Tade Makinde II has put icing on the cake by offering it afresh with the re-presentation of his father’s ideas and offering them on a silver platter. ‘Tade Makinde: Master of His Game’ is a script ready for the wise filmmaker, the shrewd investor, and the impassioned scriptwriter.
We’ve had something unique in Aremo Adegeye. It is a wonderful work which taught a huge lesson in the wisdom in contentment. But can we measure the depth, and what it would truly mean to see a legend fight for his life at the threshold of his breakthrough? What can we reap from the undiluted strength in the vision of Olu Makinde? This heroic man has left for us limitless opportunities and entertainment is one ocean from which we can derive satisfaction, joy and indelible memory.
I think we should make it count.
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and then