The silent voice behind Salient Actions! Celebrating an Icon in

Sunday Akin Dare!

Nigeria is blessed with amiable, intelligent and smart

people whose quota in making Nigeria great is of celestial

apogee. Some producers prefer to stay out of the spotlight and

instead work behind-the- scenes as helpers,fine tuning a track or

a video to make it the very best, Others choose to work for

others unaccredited when they are not producing for themselves,

among these great men whose sacrificial life's would leave an

indelible footprint on Nigeria and her Political geography,

between if any, is one of a Tweedledee and Tweedledum, little or

no difference with Alejandro González Iñárritu.If mother earth

permits,procuring the Chalcedony and Malachite stone for the

silent voice behind the Salient actions in person of Sunday Akin

Dare. Whose admonishing life is embelic to the following summary

"Do not waste a minute, not a second, in trying to demonstrate

to others the merit of your own performance. If your work does

not vindicate itself, you cannot vindicate it, but you can

labour steadily on to something which needs no advocate but

itself. He is an astute man with apt attention to detail, whose

presence might not charm you but his absence would intrigue you;

a delightful characteristic: A man whose Journalistic expertise

is of international apsis,It is familiar to him and once you are

emancipated into the muances of social discourse and disco bolus

it follows therefore that you cannot succeed as a Journalist if

you are not an innate mystery unraveler, an investigative

reporter, academic researcher,possess Analytical skills,

Exceptional leadership skills, Adaptable communication, Humble

confidence, Unwavering professionalism, Self-management, Ease

with technology, Intellectual curiosity, and Compatibility for

both independent and team work. You must be prepared to immerse

yourself in utopian-societal dialectics for you to be able to

contribute efficaciously in a utilitarian modus.In the course of

this write-up, “heaven and hell” was consulted so as to get a

Sunday Akin Dare is, and in the process it is amazing to note

that he had gone through the nitty-gritty and hurdles of life to

become the man he is today. Having spent 26 years of his life as

a journalist, author, journalism trainer, academic researcher

and a media mentor.A man whose media skills was instrumental to

unseat the clueless government and brought forth the change we

celebrate today . Dare has worked In many international

clue as to whom

organisation such as voice of America , news and tempo magazines

.His dreams for democracy was firm even before the military

regime ,as a pioneer member and General Editor of The News and

Tempo magazines in Nigeria in the early nineties, his work was

pivotal to the overthrow of military rule in Nigeria.His

experience spans the print, radio and television journalism. A

multi-media skilled professional, Dare served as the Head of the

Hausa Service of the Voice of America in Washington DC for 8

years. He is the founder and Publisher of News Digest

International magazine based in Lagos and Editor-In- Chief of

Newsbreaksnow.com, an online news website. Dare is also a

Management member of the NN24 Television led by UK based Tony

Dara. NN24 cable Television is the first 24-hour all news

channel in Nigeria and a full- fledged CNN Affiliate station.In

Life, the one thing that matters is the effort. It continues,

whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the

climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the

goal is reached it has no meaning. Thus,In 1997 Dare was

awarded the Freedom Forum Journalism Fellowship to study at New

York University in New York City. And in 2000, he became the

third Nigerian journalist to be awarded the Nieman Journalism

Fellowship to study at Harvard University in Boston. In 2000

Dare received a special citation for Courage in Journalism from

the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York for his

work in Nigeria.Dare holds a baccalaureate degree in

International Relation and a Master’s degree in International

Law and Diplomacy. He is a member of several international

journalism groups including the Washington based International

Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ICIJ, Investigative

Reporters’ and Editors, IRE, and Reporters Beyond Borders, RSF,

based in Paris.Dare co-authored the award winning book, "Making

a Killing-The Business of War" which won the 2003 Sigma Delta

Chi Awards for excellence in Journalism and Independent

Investigative Reporting.The heights great men reached and

kept,were not attained by sudden flight,but they, while their

companions slept,were toiling upward in the night. Same applies

to Sunday Dare the former chief of staff to the former minister

of information and currently the chief of staff and media

advisor to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor of lagos

state and APC chieftain, the Oxford and harvard fellow with many

awards in the media sphere has been behind the scene to ensure

efficient running of his principal ' s activities whereas

providing outstanding result in the discharge of his duty.I

think by now, it’s important for you sir to count your

blessings and not your failures, the rest of your life is still

pregnant with activities, you still possess what it takes to

change the race of humanity. I think it is time to dare to act

to change and envelope yourself with the quest to discover the

next Sunday Dare in the race of life,Men of valour whose silent

voices from behind the scene would produce salient results just

like yours.We wish you a happy birthday hoping you have a long,

fulfilling career with all the success you can handle…and more!

You’ve earned it! Your dedication and determination inspire us

to be dedicated and determined. You make us better at what we

do. It would not worth the stress if reference is not made to

the team alongside the top notch luxury event planner from the

UK , kunbi Olorode whose effort are but serious tidings to

ensure that your 50th birthday celebration is of huge success

and to all men and women of great calibre who joins in this

Golden Jubilee.Happy 50th birthday Sir! May your days be

long,productive and relevant! Igba odun odun kan ni o!


Gbolahan Bakare

@gbollybakare