Nigeria, Jan. 30 -- I am happy that Oga Yakubu Mohammed was able to publish his highly readable memoir before his final call on Wednesday January 14. The last time we met was when I visited him on August 12, last year and he presented me with an autographed copy of Beyond Expectations, his memoir of 422 pages. The book, expectedly bristles with humour and vignettes of wisdom. It is Mohammed's testament about journalism and public service. It is his offering to the coming generations. In November last year, Dan Agbese, his co-traveler and a principal character in Beyond Expectations, dies. Now Mohammed has joined him.

Three of the four founders of Newswatch magazine are now dead. The only survivor is the durable Ray Ekpu, the iconoclastic...