Shola Oshunkeye has been a veteran journalist and a storyteller for decades, NOP NIGERIA chronicles key lifetime events in his seventy year journey on earth.
These are the beneath-the-surface story you may not have heard about the master storyteller himself.
Inside Story That Made Veteran Journalist, Shola Oshunkeye, Cry At 70th Birthday
Seven Things to Know About Shola Oshunkeye: The Journalist Who Turned Big Stories Into a Lifetime
1. He cried at 70 — and had good reason
When Chief Shola Oshunkeye marked his 70th birthday on April 20, 2026, the tears flowed freely. Not from sorrow, but from what he calls “God’s glory” after seven decades of grace, good health, and a career that took the son of a peasant to interview presidents, princes, and governors. “I feel the presence of God very mightily,” he told The Nation days to the milestone.
2. He’s a CNN African Journalist of the Year
Oshunkeye won the overall prize at the 2006 CNN/Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Awards for _Niger’s Graveyard of the Living_, a harrowing TELL magazine report on the 2005 famine in Niger Republic that killed hundreds of thousands of children and livestock. He spent 10 days in Niger, relying on a Nigerien UI graduate who spoke fluent Yoruba to navigate the story.
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3. He started in science before finding the newsroom
Before journalism, he worked as a science technologist with a federal government agency. His “journalism odyssey” began in 1989 at Concord Press, owned by MKO Abiola, where he was attached to Weekend Concord under legendary editor Mike Awoyinfa.
4. He’s edited some of Nigeria’s most influential titles
Over 37 years, Oshunkeye rose to edit Weekend Concord, the best-selling Saturday tabloid of its time. He later served as Senior Associate Editor at TELL Magazine, Editor of The Spectator, General Editor at The Sun Group, and MD/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing Ghana Limited. He currently runs The Crest, an online newspaper.
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5. He’s a June 12 veteran and human interest champion
Gov. Ademola Adeleke calls him an “international journalist who has brought honour to Osun State, Nigeria and Africa”. Adeleke recalled Oshunkeye’s role in the struggle for the June 12, 1993 mandate and his advocacy for democratic governance. For nearly four decades, he built his name on “exhaustive investigative and human interest stories”.
6. Retirement? Not in his dictionary
At 70, Oshunkeye says he still works “virtually at the same pace” as when he was in paid employment — driving himself, reporting, transcribing, and chasing stories. “Retirement from journalism not in my plans,” he declared. “I’ll still choose journalism in my next life”.
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7. He’s Ilesa-born, a Fellow of the NGE, and a Yoruba chief
Born April 20, 1956 in Ilesa, Osun State, he’s a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and holds the title Baaroyin Are-Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. President Bola Tinubu, on his 70th, praised his “unrelenting pursuit of truth” and pivotal contributions to democracy. Buhari also saluted him at 65 as a “journalist of repute”.
The legacy
From Weekend Concord to CNN, from Niger’s famine fields to Lagos colloquia themed, “A Lifetime of Big Stories,” Oshunkeye’s career proves his own words: “Journalism is king in the assembly of professions”. And at 70, the king isn’t abdicating yet.
NOP NIGERIA
