Dipo Kehinde/
Prof. Wole Soyinka, Harrison Ford, Robert Wallace Forster Jr., Sir Patrick Stewart, Richard Anthony “Cheech” Marín, Cameron Bruce Crowe, Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu, and Comrade Lanre Arogundade have more than one thing in common. And you don’t have to be a stargazer or astrophysicist to know.
They were all born on July 13, and that is not all there is to it.
A common thread runs through these accomplished personalities, which might get scientists thinking why does God love creating great humans with a bundle of talents as authors, actors, journalists, and activists on July 13?
The closest bloodline in these galaxy of stars is that of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Prof Wole Soyinka who is 86 years old today, and a two-term Chairman of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Lagos State Chapter (2010-2016), Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu who is 60 now. They both hail from Ake in Abeokuta.
Toeing Soyinka’s path as a playwright, activist, singer, and many things rolled into one, Dupe, a multi-talented journalist, is also an author of three books, a dramatist, scriptwriter, actress, designer, culinary artist, and activist whose father, Comrade Kareem Kehinde was a Labour Union Leader in the 70s.
Here are some notable things about these eight celebrities, starting with the lady first:
For four years, Dupe led a ‘Save-the-Mothers’ request to the Lagos State Government, during the Lagos NAWOJ yearly Family Week that she initiated. Each year, the association would write a letter to the Lagos House of Assembly requesting for elongation of maternity leave from three to six months to give women enough time for exclusive breastfeeding and also ensure restoration of their lost body fluid before returning to work.
In 2014, the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration signed the maternity leave bill, as amended by the House, into law.
Maternity leave duration in Lagos State was thus increased from three months to six months with 10 days paternity leave for men whose wives have just given birth.
As NAWOJ Chairman, Dupe pioneered the On-the-Job offshore training for journalists in 2011. In 2012, she led 30 Lagos journalists and colleagues from other states in Nigeria on a training programme at Goldsmith Business School, London, United Kingdom. In 2014 and 2015, she also organized Capacity Building training for 18 Nigerian women journalists at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Journalism.
Dupe is the author of three books, namely: Drama of Fate, The Great Outing, and Destiny Child, and as a singer, she debuted with an album titled ‘Lagode Kuramo’ which is on her YouTube music channel.
She had a TV drama series, Moriyina, that was adapted for NTA Ibadan in 1985. It got the 7 pm popular viewing time belt on Tuesdays for two quarters of 26 weeks.
Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu’s past dramatic works include: ‘Are Agbaye’ by Moses Olaiya Adejumo aka Baba Sala, ‘Better Days’ by Laolu Ogunniyi, ‘Dinner of Death’, ‘Eje Talaka’ by Yemi Ogunyemi, ‘Ako Aja’ by Wale Adeduro, ‘Ofin Foju’ by Tai Arogunmatidi, ‘Gbekude’, ‘Ogun Abele’, ‘Karin Kapo’, ‘Agbelegba, Adanikanje’, ‘Iwe Irinna’ by Tubosun Odunsi, ‘Alajopin’ by Oyewole Olowomojuore and ‘Kuti Atiba’ by Jide Alaba Are.
Dupe floated the Positive Thinkers magazine, print and online editions for Lagos NAWOJ. The website of the magazine was opened in London to teach digital journalism during a training programme.
The Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) elected her as Chairman in absentia, in 2006.
She told NewsmakersNG: “Though I was in town. Key members already suggested I should contest for the Chairmanship, an offer which I rejected, they went ahead to conduct the election in my absence. They later phoned to inform me of the election held at Gateway Hotel, Ota. I asked them, ‘So who is our Chairman now?’ ‘You of course!’ was the response. God did wonders in the three years of my stewardship.”
Dupe was also the pioneer Chairman of NUJ, The Nation Chapel, and she was the treasurer of LAWAN for 3 years before she became the Chairman.
She was Osun State Public Relations Officer, Association of Nigeria Theatre-Arts Practitioners (ANTP) and later National Welfare Officer, National Treasurer of the Association respectively.
“Of course the journey wasn’t all bed of roses,” she said. “There were gang ups here and there, anytime I tried to seek justice on wrong-doings, there were gang-ups.
“As LAWAN Chairman, a trusted exco member embezzled the Association’s funds, we stumbled on the evidence. I hurriedly brought in the Police. After lock-up and intervention, the money was recovered. That however led to his friends turning to my enemies.
“The NUJ/NAWOJ Housing scheme is another cause for a gang-up. Majority of the members didn’t believe when I blew the whistle in 2015. I made the evidence public but people listened to sweet defence from perpetrators. Attempts on my life forced me out of the country in 2018 after petitioning the EFCC.”
Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Wole Soyinka), who was born on July 13, 1934, needs no introduction. The highly documented activist has a larger than life personality as a playwright, poet and essayist. All his life he has been fighting military dictatorship and bad leaders. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first black African to be honored in that category.
Soyinka had also worked as an actor in theaters in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He was a dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theater in London (1958-1959), and he founded the theater group ‘The 1960 Masks’ and ‘Orisun Theater Company’. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield and Yale.
Comrade Lanre Arogundade, who clocks 58 today, is a notable Nigerian activists and media development specialist. He is the Director of International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria. IPC builds media capacities to strengthen democracy and development while it promotes freedom of expression, press freedom, access to information, and safety of journalists, media independence and media professionalism.
Lanre, a former governorship aspirant in Lagos, was a National Executive member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), a socialist organisation affiliated to the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). He got massive votes in 2003 when he contested in the Lagos West Senatorial District election.
Lanre is a socialist class fighter right from his student days at University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University. He emerged as the President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in 1984. Under his leadership, Nigerian students organised a coordinated national campaign and protested against Buhari-Idiagbon junta’s attack on education. This led to expulsion and rustication of student leaders nationwide. He also served as the Chairman of Lagos State Chapter of Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) between 1995 and 1999. Under his leadership, various welfare programmes were initiated for the journalists in Lagos State.
Arogundade was an active member of Civil Society in various struggles that ended military dictatorship. He has been an active member of Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), organising and coordinating general strikes and protests led by NLC.
As an author, Arogundade launched a book, ‘Media and Elections’ last year. He had also edited media resource books such as Public Procurement Reporting Guide, Budget & Corruption Reporting: A media audit; Guidelines and Resources on Investigative Journalism; We Speak for Us: A New Experience in Advocacy Work; The Ethics Handbook; Guidelines on Conflict and Election Reporting; Freedom of Information and Civil Society and Union Rights of Female Journalists.
A co-recipient of the maiden press freedom award of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA) 1999, Arogundade had also been conferred with the ‘Defender of press freedom’ award by Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in 2018.
Harrison Ford is an American actor, aviator, and environmental activist. He gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the original Star Wars Trilogy, eventually reprising the role decades later in the sequel trilogy. Ford is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones film franchise and as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in the spy thrillers Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Ford is 78 today.
Robert Wallace Forster Jr. was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in Medium Cool, Captain Dan Holland in The Black Hole, Abdul Rafai in The Delta Force, and Max Cherry in Jackie Brown, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Forster’s varied filmography includes: Reflections in a Golden Eye, Alligator, Me, Myself & Irene, Mulholland Drive, The Descendants, Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, and What They Had. He is 79 today.
Sir Patrick Stewart OBE is an English actor, director and producer whose work has included roles on stage, television, and film, in a career spanning six decades. He has been nominated for Olivier, Golden Globe, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and Saturn Awards. He clocks 80 today.
Richard Anthony “Cheech” Marín is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and activist, who gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong and as Don Johnson’s partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez, on Nash Bridges. He has also voiced characters in several Disney films, including Oliver & Company, The Lion King, the Cars series, Coco and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. He marks 74 today.
Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author, and actor. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes. He celebrates 63rd birthday today.
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