“I Didn’t Go to Secondary School. I Didn’t Go to University.” With these Words, Ladi Ayodeji—A Major Disruptor of Nigeria’s Entertainment Journalism—Told Me His Life Story, By Taiwo Obe

The Journalism Clinic held an Appreciation Day on 22 October for news media elders aged 70 and above.
Based in Abeokuta, Ayodeji, who turned 70 in December 2024, could not attend because of health issues.
This afternoon, I visited him at a Lagos hospitality facility, where he is holidaying, to present the plaque he missed.
Yesterday, I was in Abeokuta for a remembrance service and reception hosted by Reuben Famuyibo, my classmate (Ibadan Boys’ High School, 1972–1976) for his mother, grandmother, and aunt.
When Ayodeji asked what took me there, I replied: “Since WhatsApp arrived, my classmates and I have reunited and supported one another.”
That sparked his story. “I don’t have such relationships—no classmates.”
Born and bred in northern Nigeria, he was stalled beyond primary school by the late-1960s pogrom in the region which fuelled the Nigeria-Biafra War.
He apprenticed as a mechanic after quitting learning how to be a panel-beater. “I didn’t want a job dependent on car accidents.”
In Lagos, lacking a City and Guilds certificate, he could not work as a mechanic.
He became an audit clerk, considered an ACCA, and passed nine GCE O-Levels (A1 in English) plus three A-Levels.
He devoured novels and Shakespeare, Hemingway, and others passed down by his brother.
He debated current affairs fiercely with cousins he lived with. One suggested journalism, and later spotted a reporter vacancy ad at Punch Newspapers.”I applied. Eleven of us interviewed before a panel which included Punch Editor, Sola Odunfa; Tayo Kehinde, his deputy, Owolabi Ilori, sports editor and Segun Obilana, labour editor (the three are late). I was the only one without schooling. Others had bachelor’s or master’s degrees.”
He topped the interview.
Funny twist: an interviewee, Collins Iwunze, got Ayodeji’s appointment letter. Kehinde told him to find Ayodeji—or lose his own job. Iwunze begged him to show up, then go for the accounting job he got about the same time.
Ayodeji showed—and stayed. He took over Punch’s Saturday Highlife entertainment pages, launched a gossip column (Talkaholic), and wrote unbiased record reviews without any gratification from the artistes or the labels, a practice by some of his colleagues on the beat. Circulation soared.
A superstar emerged. Young readers formed the Ladi Ayodeji Fan Club all around Nigeria. A literary journalist, Chuks Iloegbunam, took Ayodeji to the house of the late high-flying journalist,
Dele Giwa, who insisted on an autograph. Imagine that. “Giwa said I was Fidel Castro. That I had fan clubs which had never happened in journalism. Not even in the US (where he practised)….”
Ayodeji tried publishing BEATS magazine but he allowed: “Those who pledged funding didn’t provide it. I should have waited for the funds before starting.”
A memoir later?
Well….