Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Professor Bolaji Akinyemi has just been enrolled as a member of the octogenarian club and Nigerians are celebrating him on various platforms. His contributions to Nigeria's development span the space of diplomacy, international relations, foreign policy, and domestic affairs. He was born in 1942 just as the bombs of the Second World War were dropping, and his path to good education was paved early. He became a professor of political science at age 41 and was chosen by General Murtala Muhammed to give muscle to the dynamic foreign policy he dreamt of for Nigeria. Akinyemi was appointed Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) at the young age of 33. He introduced bilateral dialogue with the Soviet Union, the Chinese, and the United States, Scandinavia and Brazil. He also introduced a town-and-gown forum called the Nigerian Forum, which was headed by the Director General and made up of eggheads in the foreign policy space and journalists. The forum discussed mainly foreign policy issues, but sometimes sank its credibility.