Babafemi Ojudu is a Nigerian journalist who was born on March 27, 1961. He was elected as a Senator in Ekiti State Central constituency in Nigeria.
Let’s Look into his full biography and net worth below.
Wikipedia Profile and Background
| Real Name: | Babafemi Ojudu |
| Other Name: | Babafemi |
| Date of Birth: | 27 March 1961 |
| Age: | 62 years old @ 2023 |
| State of Origin: | Ekiti State, Nigeria |
| Place of Birth: | Ado-Ekiti |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Wife: | Mrs. Omotola Ojudu |
| Occupation: | Politician, Journalist |
| Net Worth: | $700k |
| Political Party: | APC |
| Education: | University of Ife, Ile-Ife (English) University of Lagos (Political Science) |
| Children: | Moremi Ojudu Sunkanmi Temitope Ojudu e.t.c |
Babafemi Ojudu Biography
Senator Babafemi Ojudu is from Ekiti state, born Ado-ekiti. He was the former senator of, Ekiti Central constituency of Ekiti State, Nigeria. That was when his political party was, Action Congress of Nigeria.
Education Background
Babafemi Ojudu was born in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on March 27, 1961. He went to school in Ado-Ekiti at Ado Grammar School (1973–77) In 1976, he won a scholarship for poor students from the state that was given by activist lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and Jùj musician King Sunny Adé.
This was the beginning of a long friendship with Fawehinmi. Ojudu got into the University of Ife, Ile-Ife in 1980 so he could study English. While he was in college, he became interested in journalism.
He joined the Association of Campus Journalists and wrote for COBRA, a campus newspaper. He and two friends started a magazine called The Parrot, which he ran until he graduated from high school in 1984.
Ojudu worked as a reporter for The Guardian after he finished his National Youth Service. From 1985 to 1986, he went to the University of Lagos to get a master’s degree in Political Science.
How old Is Babafemi ojudu?
Babafemi is currently at the age of 62 years old at the time of writing this post. The senator was born on 27 March 1961, few months after Nigeria got her independence from the Britain rulers.
State of Origin and Place of Birth
Femi was born in Ado-ekiti/Ekiti State, Nigeria. Ado Ekiti is the capital city of Ekiti State, Nigeria. It is the headquarter of the Ekiti central senatorial district, southwest, Nigeria.
Babafemi Ojudu Wife and Children
He is married to a very beautiful wife called, Omotola. They are happily married with kids, boys and girls.
Net Worth
His Net Worth is estimated to be more than $700k.
Career
Years before he quit his job at African Concord magazine in 1992, Babafemi Ojudu was already a fiery activist in Nigeria who stood up for democratic ideals.
It started when he was a student at the great University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife, where he studied English.
In later years, he fought for democracy and human rights not with the colonial masters but with Nigeria’s feared military juntas, like IBB and Abacha.
He did this with the power of his pen and words as a journalist and editor. In 1987, Ojudu started working as a Staff Writer for African Concord magazine. Later, he became an Assistant Editor.
Five years later, in 1992, he quit because the publisher, the late MKO Abiola, asked him to say sorry for an article that was critical of Gen. Ibrahim Bagangida’s military regime (retd).
Ojudu never stopped being critical of Babangida and his government. In 2011, when Babangida was being pushed to run for President, Ojudu spoke out strongly against it, saying that Babangida “broke the system and is now trying to come back.”
Many people have said that Ojudu is strong, humble, hardworking, and firm. He didn’t let this stop him from continuing on his journey.
A year later, in 1993, he and some of his former coworkers from African Concord started Independent Communications Nigeria limited (ICNL).
ICNL started The NEWS, P.M. News, and TEMPO magazines, and Ojudu became its Managing Editor and then its Group Managing Editor.
TheNEWS – Babangida
TheNEWS set the standard for investigative journalism in Nigeria for many years, when magazine publishing and journalism in the country were growing and getting better.
With consistent and fearless reporting, Ojudu and his colleagues made sure that the weekly magazine was a pain in the neck for the military junta in Nigeria.
Babangida banned the first version of TheNEWS in 1993 because it was such a big threat to the military. When the late Gen. Sani Abacha (ret.) took over as Head of State in 1993, after Babangida’s decision to throw out the June 12, 1993 elections, Ojudu never stopped fighting for democracy and human rights.
He led the fight to carry out MKO Abiola’s June 12 mandate, which he had won in an election that most people thought was free and fair. Ojudu stayed true to himself and kept fighting for democracy.
Ojudu Legal Controversies
Between 1993 and 1998, when Abacha was in power, the military regime harassed, arrested, and held many journalists for weeks or even years.
In 1995, Abacha’s government arrested Kunle Ajibade, a journalist for TheNEWS magazine, and gave him a life sentence for treason and conspiracy.
The sentence was later changed to 15 years. Also, the military regime raided the magazine’s office and destroyed some of its things on more than one occasion.
It didn’t take long before Ojudu was arrested, too. In August 1996, the military arrested Ojudu and Bayo Onanuga because of an article in TheNEWS called “The Man Abacha Cannot Touch” about the Minister of Petroleum at the time, Dan Etete.
The article said that Etete was giving government contracts to his family and friends on behalf of the Nigerian State Oil Company, and the military regime refused to look into the suspicious deals.
Unfortunately, Ojudu and other brave journalists like him were not safe from Abacha and his men. The State Security Services (SSS) in Lagos eventually arrested him and others like him.
Ojudu was caught and put in the notorious Shangisha prisons for three days. This was just one of the many times he was hurt and put in jail.
As a journalist, editor, and one time Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (Concord Newspapers’ Chapel), Ojudu was the only one who stayed true to democratic ideals for a long time.
After Been Released
In Nigeria, the 1980s and 1990s were hard times for brave journalists. Many of them used guerilla journalism to get their investigations published by mainstream media, putting their lives and sometimes even their families at risk.
Ojudu, like many other brave Nigerian journalists, fought for justice, human rights, and the establishment of democracy in Nigeria during the dark days of the military regime and the crackdown on press freedom.
He did this with uncommon courage and dedication. People see Ojudu as a follower of the ideas of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was a political sage and once the Premier of the Western region.
Ojudu comes from a respected school of thought and leadership, and he has always fought for good government, good leadership, human rights, and democracy.
His elders noticed how smart he was, and in 1976, he won a scholarship for poor students of the state that was paid for by activist lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and Jùj musician King Sunny Adé.
This was the beginning of a long-term friendship with Fawehinmi, who later gave a lot of money to help get TheNEWS magazine started.
His Work With Guardian
Ojudu worked as a reporter for The Guardian after he finished his National Youth Service. From 1985 to 1986, he went to the University of Lagos to get a master’s degree in Political Science.
In 1996, Ojudu worked as a fellow at the School of Communications at the well-known Howard University in the United States.
In addition to his job as Managing Editor during military regimes and the return of democracy in 1999, Ojudu was a member of and a leader in a number of groups and committees that worked on media, democracy, and human rights.
The journalist and editor had to go into politics at some point because he wanted to make a bigger difference in Nigeria’s politics than just running a newsroom and media organization.
In 2011, Ojudu was elected as the Senator for the Ekiti central senatorial district in Ekiti State. This was after he had worked as a journalist and media person for more than 20 years.
Career As Journalist
In 1987, Ojudu began writing for the magazine African Concord, first as a staff writer and then as an assistant editor. The job required a lot of travel around Nigeria and to other countries in Africa.
In 1992, he quit because the publisher, M.K.O. Abiola, asked him to apologize to President Ibrahim Babangida for an article that was critical of the military government.
In 1993, Ojudu and a few other people who used to work at African Concord started the magazine TheNEWS. Ojudu was the first managing editor of the magazine. Gani Fawehinmi gave the newspaper its start-up money, which was 25,000.
But when Ojudu later refused to help Fawehinmi run against Bola Tinubu, who was elected governor of Lagos State in 1999, Fawehinmi asked for his money back. Babangida banned the first version of TheNEWS in 1993. It didn’t last long.
Babangida with Babafemi Controversies
Years later, when Babangida said he wanted to run for president in the 2011 democratic elections, Ojudu said that every Nigerian who wanted the country to get better should fight against Babangida’s return to power.
He said “We can’t get anything good from him. We’ve been through enough pain at his hands, he likes to play tricks. Look at how many journalists died during his time in office.
See what he did to our coworkers! (journalists)… Look at what happened to our institutions when he was in charge. He broke the system, and now he wants to get back in.”
During the Sani Abacha regime, Ojudu was arrested, tortured, and held in jail more than once (1993–1998). On August 11, 1996, Ojudu was taken into custody and held for three days at the notorious Shagisha prison on the edge of Lagos.
The article in The News about Oil Minister Dan Etete said that Etete was giving his family and friends government contracts through the Nigerian State Oil Company.
Later in 1996, Ojudu spent six months in the United States as a fellow at Howard University’s School of Communications in Washington, D.C.
When he got back to the United States in June 1997, he was given the job of Group Managing Editor at Independent Communications Network Ltd., which publishes TheNEWS magazine, P.M. News, and Tempo.
On November 17, 1997, he was arrested after coming back from a conference in Kenya. In July 1998, after Abacha had died, it was said that he had typhoid fever and jaundice, both of which could have killed him, because he had been held in dirty conditions and not been given medicine.
In addition to his job as Managing Editor, Ojudu has been a part of or the head of a number of media and human rights groups and committees, both before and after the return to democracy. Before getting into politics in 2010, Ojudu worked in the media for a total of 26 years. ((thenewsnigeria.com.ng))
Career In Politics
In August 2010, Ojudu said for sure that he would run for the Senate. He quit his job as Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network to run for office.
On January 10, 2011, the ACN primaries for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat were held in three of the five local government areas (LGAs) that make up the Senatorial district, and Ojudu won in all three.
The primary elections for the other two LGAs were moved, but they didn’t happen in the end. The ACN put Ojudu’s name forward as their candidate for Ekiti Central to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But on March 17, 2011, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Festus Bode-Ola, who was already a senator, was the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Ekiti Central.
Further Details
Chief Jide Awe, who is the head of the ACN in Ekiti State, said that Bode Ola’s papers that said the INEC had recognized him as a candidate were fake.
On March 31, 2011, the Federal High Court in Abuja overturned its decision from March 17. In the election for Ekiti Central Senatorial seat in April 2011, Ojudu got 67,747 votes while running on the ACN platform.
Ayo Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti State and a candidate for the Labour Party (LP), got 29,773 votes. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gave 29,488 votes to Kayode Alufa.
Alufa gave Ojudu his congratulations after he lost. He said, “Our God, in his wisdom, chose you because of your experience and good credentials, which I am sure you will use to help and improve our poor area.” On January 7, 2016, President M. Buhari named Ojudu Special Adviser on Political Matters.
