Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been trapped in Guinea-Bissau following the military coup and change of government in the country.
He was trapped with other African leaders who were in the country on a joint mission of the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African Countries election observers.
Jonathan is among the 36 high-profile observers on the joint mission, and the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) who are in Guinea-Bissau to monitor the presidential election held on Sunday.
However, on Wednesday, military officers seized control of the government and suspended the country’s electoral process after they staged a couple.
They took over after President Umaro Embaló, who is seeking re-election, and Fernando Dias, his main opponent, declared themselves winners of the presidential election even though the electoral commission had not released official results.
The military also closed all borders and shut down airports.
In a statement after the coup, the joint mission expressed “deep concern” about the military intervention in Guinea-Bissau.
“It’s regrettable that this announcement came at a time when the missions had just concluded meeting with the two leading presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to accept the will of the people,” the statement reads.
The observers called on the AU and ECOWAS to take urgent steps to restore constitutional order and demanded the immediate release of all detained officials.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
