Benson Idonije (born 13 June 1936) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

broadcaster and music critic popularly known for being the first band manager of

Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersectin ...

musician

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

. Regarded as one of Nigeria's most revered music critics, he was part of the pioneering group of broadcasters who started Radio Nigeria 2 (now Metro FM) in 1977.

Early life and education

Idonije was born in Otuo, with his family house at ighera, one of the twelve quarters of Otuo, a town in

Owan East Owan East is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. The headquarters is in the town of Afuze. The Owan East Local Government Area comprises 69 towns/villages made up of eight clans (Emai, Igue, Ihievbe, Ik ...

local government area of

Edo State Edo, commonly known as Edo State, is a state located in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. As of 2006 National population census, the state was ranked as the 24th populated state (3,233,366) in Nigeria, However there was controversy ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, where he began his early education. He completed his secondary school education at Holy Trinity Grammar School, Sabongida Ora, where he obtained a Cambridge School Certificate before proceeding to

Yaba College of Technology Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded in 1947, and is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos. It has a student enrollment of over 16,000. Overview Yaba College of Technology ...

where he studied Communications Engineering.

Career

Idonije started writing about jazz-related articles and columns for several newspapers including the ''Morning Post Newspaper'' in 1953. In 1957, he began his career as an Engineering Assistant at the

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation The Voice of Nigeria or VON is the official international broadcasting station of Nigeria. History Founded in 1961, the Voice of Nigeria began life as the External Service of the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now Federal Radio Corpora ...

(now

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) is Nigeria's state radio broadcasting organization. Its subsidiary is the domestic radio network known as ''Radio Nigeria'', with FM stations across the 36 states and Zonal station in the 6 geopoliti ...

) before he moved into mainstream broadcasting in 1960, presenting and anchoring popular on-air programmes such as ''The Big Beat'' and ''Stereo Jazz Club''. Prior to his retirement from broadcasting in 1992, he was once appointed as the Principal Lecturer and Training Officer of the FRCN Training School for eight years. Upon his retirement, he began to write and contribute critiques, opinions and articles to several art-related media houses in Nigeria before he got a job as a writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 1996 where he wrote columns including "Evergreen", "Sound and Screen" and "All That Jazz".

Recognitions

In 2012, The

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

Centre for Investigative Journalism awarded him the Life Time Award for Journalism Excellence. He is a fellow of Adam Fiberesima School of Music and Conservatory,

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...

Published books

*''Dis Fela Sef'' *''The Great Highlife Party'' *''All That Jazz''

Personal life

Idonije is the grandfather of Nigerian singer

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album, '' L.I ...

and the father of

Bose Ogulu Bose Ogulu is a Nigerian academic, businesswoman and talent manager. She manages her son Burna Boy's musical career and thus is also known as Mama Burna. Early life Ogulu is the daughter of Nigerian music critic Benson Idonije, who was the mana ...

. To celebrate his 80th birthday, a week-long event featuring paper presentations and musical performances was organized by the Committee of Relevant Arts and Culture Advocates Caucus in several parts of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

including the Ojo campus of the

Lagos State University Lagos State University, also known as LASU, is located in Ojo, with sub-campuses at Ikeja and Epe both towns in Lagos State, Nigeria. The university was established in 1983 by the enabling law of Lagos State, for the advancement of learning ...

, Freedom Park, Broad Street and the

MUSON Centre MUSON Centre (Musical Society of Nigeria) is a performance hall in Lagos. The multipurpose civic auditorium is located in the heart of Lagos Island, situated between the National Museum, the City Mall, the Onikan Stadium and the former offic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Idonije, Benson 1936 births Living people Nigerian male writers People from Edo State