Is’haq Modibbo Kawu: 50 Years Of Media Professionalism; 1977-2027

The 1st of February, 2027, marks the 50th anniversary of the commencement of a life-long engagement with the media, by Dr. Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, FNGE. He was recruited by the defunct Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Radio Nigeria. He was 16 years and 5 months old. He went on to post a very distinguished professional life in radio and television broadcasting, print journalism, and media regulation.
Dr. Kawu has been a man of many parts in a remarkable public life. He was a trade union leader, first as the Chairman of the Radio, Television, and Theatre Workers’ Union (RATTAWU) at Radio Kwara. He was then elected as a vice chairman of the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and subsequently became the Chairman of the State Council of Congress, between 1984 and 1988.
For many years, he was a militant of the underground Marxist-Leninist Movement of Nigeria (MLMN), and was part of the organizational work of the progressive Nigerian students’ movement as well as the Nigerian trade union movement. Modibbo Kawu has also been active in community engagements, working actively in the Northern Media Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and the Fulbe Global & Rights Initiative.
These multi-faceted involvements have also underscored his media outputs in broadcasting and journalism. The various social, political, economic, cultural, and ideological currents of the past half century, have impacted his worldview, and have been the subjects of his interventions on various platforms.
To commemorate 50 years of dedicated labour to committed, progressive, and internationalist media, we are inviting 200 people from all walks of life, to share their thoughts on the life and work of Dr. Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, FNGE.
We are hoping to put together these thoughts and reflections into a book that we hope to present to the public on February 1st, 2027, the 50th anniversary of Dr. Is’haq Modibbo Kawu’s commencement of work in the media.
We are by this note, inviting you to be a contributor to this book of tributes to a media worker, scholar, patriot, and internationalist, Dr. Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, FNGE.
All contributions, up to a maximum of 1000 words, should be sent to IMKawu50@gmail.com
…Professor Ayodele Joseph, Kaduna State University (KASU) for the organising committee.