Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Mourns the Passage of Eddie Aderinokun

 

ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN AUTHORS (ANA) MOURNS THE PASSAGE OF EDDIE ADERINOKUN

 

 Camillus Ukah, ANA President has expressed sadness over the death of Chief Eddie Aderinokun, a former Vice President of the Association. This was made public on Wednesday in a statement by ANA National Publicity Secretary (South), Wole Adedoyin.

 In a condolence message to the family of the deceased, ANA members and the entire literary community, Camillus Ukah described late Chief Eddie Aderinokun’s passage as a loss to ANA and the country. He further recalled Chief Eddie Aderinokun’s immense contributions to the growth of ANA, stating and there was no way the history of ANA will be written without a mention of his name, while his achievements in different areas of national life would always be remembered.

It would also be recalled that Chief Eddie Aderinokun was ANA’s Vice President to Alh. Abubakar Gimba, he also contested ANA Presidency with Prof. Olu Obafemi and Elechi Amadi in Port Harcourt in 2001.

 

Mr. Ukah prayed that the God would grant his family, ANA and his professional colleagues the fortitude to bear the huge loss.

 

Chief Eddie Aderinokun died on the 3rd of January at the age of 80 after a brief illness.

The deceased was a veteran Nigerian journalist who worked for the Daily Express in the 1960s and later became editor of the revamped Express in 1970. He also wrote for the "National Interest" and was a sports enthusiast. He served as the Nigerian volleyball association president in 1994.

 

Aderinokun was born in 1940 to a working class family from Abeokuta, his father was a railway worker while his mother was a trader. He is the brother of the poet, Kayode Aderinokun and banker, Tayo Aderinokun. He was educated at Ijero Baptist Primary School, Apapa and the African Church Grammar School, Abeokuta. In 1960s, he joined the staff of the ministry of Communications but only worked there briefly. While working at the ministry, he sent an article to the Bisi Onabanjo led Daily Express, to his surprise the article was published. The breakthrough later prodded him to leave his job and become a reporter with the Express. He rose within the newspaper to become an editor. After leaving the Express, he worked for NBC, now NTA and the Czech news agency, SETECA.

 

Aderinokun is the author of Dark days are here: A philosophical travelogue of Nigeria in verse. ISBN 9783066951, Ebony on snow: A travel diary in verse. ISBN 9783066900.