Dear Destiny Friends,
It’s with great pleasure that I write to you today to about an extraordinary great man who celebrates his unique, scintillating and surreal birthday today in company of other hosts of angels and great men whom the world celebrates on this auspicious day.
One may be wondering who is this great man in question? He’s no other person than the great Chief Dele Momodu the Chairman of Ovation Media Group who was born on May 16, 1960.
According to my spiritual mentor Evangelist Ebuka Obi, he’s not preaching about Jesus Christ who he heard about, he’s talking and preaching about Jesus Christ whom he has experienced. In the same manner, I am not talking about Dr. Dele Momodu whom I have heard about, I am talking about Dr. Dele Momodu who I have personally experienced. When I talk about experience, I have spoken to him for over a thousand hours. In fact, he once stated on a live Instagram program, he talks to me more than everyone in the world.
Let me begin by talking about the humble beginning of Chief Momodu. Chief Dele Momodu really had a humble beginning. His father died when he was barely 13 years old. One can imagine when life was in stock for him as a 13years old boy. According to him, his mother was poor and unlettered. Ordinarily, in the eyes and hearts of men, the future appeared bleak and insecure, but as the saying goes, the way of man is different from the ways of God. As we proceed you will discover how faithful God appeared to him.
The life of Dr. Momodu can be described as a testimony because life seems to be very fair to him. There have been situations when life seems to be coming to an end for him and out of the blues, God will send a destiny helper to him. One thing that is certain about this great man is that he has a charming personality. You can’t see him and hate him unless you are a witchcraft spirit. It may surprise you to know that Chief Dele Momodu’s enemy loves him because he tells them the raw truth when they either need to hear it or when they consult him.
The doggedness of Chief Dele Momodu was first felt when he had to retake the West African Examination Council three times to secure admission. Coming from a teenager with an extremely humble background, most times, one is not given an opportunity to thrive, but here is the young Momodu who is making a name for himself by not giving up on himself even when friends, relatives have already given up on him. His late mother once asked him if he was cursed when he couldn’t get his West African Examination Council results and Jamb cancelled results. As God will have it, he was able to secure admission to study Yoruba at Obafemi Awolowo University. Upon graduation, he applied to study Literature in English and thereby became the only Nigerian that read Yoruba language with master’s in literature in English language.
On 30 July 2016, Momodu was awarded with an honorary doctorate degree (PhD) from the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana, earning him the title “Doctor of Humane”.
Upon graduation, getting a job was very hard for him, he began to freelance, luck and fate found him when he got an opportunity to work for Chief Moshood Abiola African Concord Newspaper and in two years time he became the highest paid editor in Nigeria.
Chief Dele Momodu’s love for humanity and good governance can be felt when he opposed bad governance from 1978 till date. He has always stated he has always been in the opposition party. He played a critical role in restoring peace in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and other African countries.
Dr. Momodu is one man I can say he rose from grass to grace. Here’s a man whose father died when he was barely 13 years old. His mother, a poor unlettered woman who knows the value of education went over and beyond to positively send his child to school. I guess she has the premonition that apart from God, education is the only gateway that can shape their future. She was so right because even the Bible states in Proverbs 4:13, your education is your life, guard it very well and proverbs 1:7 states “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
One may be wondering why I had to quote the Bible. Well, it is instructive to note that Dr. Momodu is a child of destiny because how can you describe a man who was evicted from the house with this mother because they couldn’t pay the rent, they resorted to find a temporary solace in the church to a man who has met Presidents of different countries who have engaged him on a one – on – one personal basis, met with world leaders, and travelled to more than 60 countries.
One may be wondering what made it possible for Chief Dele Momodu to achieve all these great strides. The answer is very simple, he has been able to achieve this feat because of his brand, Ovation Media Group ( Ovation International Magazine) which makes him irresistible, but importantly Dr. Momodu has the “God factor” in his life. It won’t be out of place if you call him a child of destiny because his life seems to be more than an uncommon one.
Looking back to his humble beginnings, I doubt if anyone will give him an opportunity to thrive because he has little or no support for him except his belief in God, belief in himself and dare-devil mindset. Yes, I said it because Dr. Momodu is an avid strategic risk taker. He has taken routes which are less travelled by many people and by the grace of God he has come out stronger. The strangest thing about Chief Dele Momodu is that the more you look, the less you see.
I can him the mentor of mentors because he embodies a lot of qualities in me. Above he is the definition of a pinnacle mentor. Of all the qualities he possesses, the one that endears to him is his sophisticated level of humility and selfless spirit.
Dr. Momodu has received hundreds of awards and honors for his work in the world of business, politics, literature, the music industry and the fashion industry
Love for good governance and exile:
In 1993, Momodu resigned to join the Moshood Abiola presidential campaign organization. Momodu was arrested and detained at Alagbon Close in Lagos, after the annulment of the 12 June presidential election by General Ibrahim Babagida He was punished by the reigning dictatorship for his pro-democratic views but was undeterred. He was to be arrested in 1995 and charged with treason by the government of Sani Abacha, then a dictator. Momodu was accused of being one of the brains behind the pirate radio station, Radio Freedom (later Radio Kudirat), after the murder of Alhaja kudira Abiola, Momodu managed to escape by masquerading as a farmer through the Seme border into Cotonou, in Benin Republic, from where he fled to Togo, Ghana and eventually to the United Kingdom. For three agonizing years, he could not re-enter his homeland, Nigeria.
Business
Momodu started Ovation International in 1996 while still in exile. After the death of Abiola in prison, and the subsequent death of his military ruler Sani Abacha, Momodu ended his exile. Since then, he has expanded Ovation International, and is now one of Africa’s most popular celebrities.
Political career
Dr. Momdou’s passion for good governance continued when he wass fraustred with Nigerian leaders. Instead of lamenting like Jeremiah, he contested for the position of president of the federal republic of Nigeria under the Labour Party, during the 2011 presidential election Unfortunately, the Labour Party dropped out of the presidential race and he ended up running under the platform of the National Conscience Party and lost to President Goodluck Jonathan in the general elections.
In February 2022, he declared his intention to run for president of Nigeria, on the platform of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, but lost the ticket to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Dr. Momodu always describes himself as a man of modest income who has become a global citizen.
As I am about to end this article, let me state some obvious facts, The story of my life will not be complete without the mention of Aare Dele Momodu, a man of many immeasurable qualities. One thing about this great man is that he is largely underrated, but those who know him know for a fact, he is a patriot who stands for the right principles, ideology, values, causes, and what he believes.
Today, l boldly state, he is one of the great men if not the greatest man God used to give me visibility. I say this because apart from my book in which he wrote the foreword, nothing has given me prominence in the world than my writing skills.
I have been writing since 2012 on my blog, but in 2018, he gave me the opportunity to write on his platform The Boss Newspaper, and since then, l have developed a keen interest in writing and have not missed a single week of publishing articles about self and human capacity development.
When we talk of mentorship, l learnt the art from him. When we talk of intentionality, l learnt it from him. When we talk of humility, l learnt it from him, when we talk of strategic networking, l learnt it from him. When we talk of working hard and smart, l learnt it from him. When we talk of being objective, speaking truth to power, and being selfless to humanity, l learnt the art from him. I can go on and on, but as the sage will say, a word is enough for the wise.
Sir, I as you celebrate your 65th birthday pray for more blessing, good health, and the mercy of God upon your life. Amen.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
