Tributes pour in for Kaye Whiteman, BusinessDay columnist and leading Africa specialist

Since the death of Kaye Whiteman, eminent British journalist, historian, author and columnist, last Saturday, tributes have been pouring in from his friends, especially those in the Commonwealth Journalists Association, London branch, as well as his friends and colleagues in Nigeria. One of them is Frank Aigbogun, Publisher/CEO, BusinessDay Newspaper, who described Whiteman as a gentleman to the core.

Aigbogun said, “Never a dull moment when Kay Whiteman was around. A great journalist who wrote about a subject with unrivalled passion and understanding. His article would always inspire us and we will surely miss him.”

Whiteman died in London on Saturday, aged 78. Until his death, he was a weekly columnist in BusinessDay. An expert on West African affairs – having lived and worked in the sub-region for many years in different capacities, especially as editor, and then editor-in-chief of the weekly West Africa Magazine – Whiteman exhibited his wide knowledge of West Africa and Africa in general in his weekly column in the masterly way he dished out information and analysed issues and events concerning Africa.

Kaye Whiteman first arrived in Lagos in 1964 as a journalist with the West Africa Magazine and began writing for the Daily Times. He covered the Nigerian Civil War and wrote on Nigeria and Africa with much authority and understanding.

He was head of Information for the old European Economic Community (EEC) which became the European Union (EU). After leaving the EEC in Brussels, he returned to London to become editor of West Africa, after the retirement of David Williams. He was also head of the Information and Public Affairs Division in the Commonwealth Secretariat, serving under Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku in the late 1990s.

Wrote Kayode Soyinka, publisher of the Africa Today Group: “This sad – very, very sad – news of Kaye Whiteman’s death just reached me while in Nigeria where I am presently. I spoke with him a few days ago before I left London for this trip. And my wife just told me this morning when I broke the shocking news to her that he even called me at our UK home on the morning of my departure on the 8th. We produced the June edition of Africa Today together. And he invited me to a CJA meeting at the House of Commons, which unfortunately I couldn’t attend.”