Newswatch has honoured its founding Editor-in-Chief, Dele Giwa, with the presentation of a book documenting his journalism legacy, as the media organisation marked the 40th anniversary of his assassination.
Titled Dele Giwa’s Granite Journalism, the book brings together Giwa’s writings from Daily Times, Sunday Concord and Newswatch magazine, alongside tributes from prominent journalists, particularly his friends, colleagues and peers.
The book was presented on Monday, October 19, 2026, at the Kessington Adebutu Auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.
The event was organised by Newswatch Plus Limited and the wider Newswatch family to commemorate Giwa, who was killed by a parcel bomb delivered to his home on Talabi Street, Ikeja, on October 19, 1986.
Book revisits Giwa’s journalism legacy
The publication was edited by Ray Ekpu, one of the founding editors of Newswatch magazine. The event was chaired by Sam Amuka, founder and publisher of Vanguard Newspapers.
In a statement signed by Soji Akinrinade, Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch Plus, the organisation said the book presentation provided an opportunity for the media community to remember Giwa and revisit his contributions to journalism.
“The book presentation allows the Dele Giwa media family to remember the murdered journalism icon, showcasing his works and writings from Daily Times, Sunday Concord and Newswatch magazine,” the statement said.
Giwa co-founded Newswatch in 1985 alongside Ekpu, Yakubu Mohammed and Dan Agbese, serving as its first Editor-in-Chief, while Ekpu was his deputy.
Under Giwa’s leadership, the magazine became a prominent platform for investigative journalism and public affairs reporting in Nigeria, helping shape the country’s media landscape.
Forty years after an unsolved assassination
Giwa’s assassination remains unresolved, four decades after the parcel bomb attack that killed him at his Lagos residence.
The anniversary comes at a time when the Newswatch founding family has lost two more members of its pioneering quartet. Dan Agbese died in November 2025, while Yakubu Mohammed died in January 2026, leaving Ekpu as the only surviving member of the four journalists who established the magazine.
The Newswatch family said the book presentation was an opportunity to honour Giwa’s contributions while remembering the journalists who helped build the publication.
Through the collection of his writings and tributes from fellow journalists, Dele Giwa’s Granite Journalism preserves the work and memory of a journalist whose assassination remains one of Nigeria’s most enduring unresolved attacks on the press.
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