He wrote:
Fair thee well, Emeritus Political Editor
It was a solemn day yesterday for me as we buried by senior friend and big brother, Mr Akpo Esajere in Lagos. I met him about three decades ago in the course of duty as a political reporter.
He was the Dean of political reporters. He earned the sobriquet by his long years as Political Editor of The Guardian Newspapers for decades and for his insightful analysis and authoritative reporting of politics of those years.
‘Oga Akpo’, as many of us called him, was authoritative in his reporting and insightful in his analysis. He had the credit for many exclusive stories that defined the tortous transition political programme of the military governments.
He was age mates with many of the decision makers and had established a reputation that made them trust him with their thinking on the political direction they wished to take the country.
Many of the politicians who dominate contemporary Nigerian politics had at one time or the other sought his guidance on how to walk the slippery political landscape. He was not given to banal sentiments. His analysis could be cold blodded but he was always proved right.
As he grew old and weak and his writings became fewer and long spaced, he never amazed me with the sharpness of his insight and the prophetic quality of his predictions. No wonder the children, relatives, friends and colleagues gave him a befiiting burial in Lagos yesterday. He died at age 71.
May God grant Mr Akpo Esajere, Emeritus Political Editor, eternal rest.
Akpo Esajere was a former Group Political Editor of The Guardian Newspapers.