Veteran Nigerian journalist, Chief Dele Momodu, has opened up about a challenging period in his life when he had to sell bread to survive after losing his prestigious role as Nigeria’s highest-paid editor.
Speaking in an in-depth conversation with Bola Ray on Starr Chat on April 17,2025, Chief Momodu shared how he managed to stay strong despite the unexpected downturn in his career.
“I realised that the biggest embarrassment about not having a job is people asking you, ‘So what are you going to do now?’ And you have no answer.”
“I became a bread seller. Imagine going from being an editor, the highest paid, coming down. I came down to rock bottom,” he said emphatically.
Despite the humiliation, he said he stayed firm and didn’t allow the situation to defeat him.
Touching on the politics of influence in the media industry, the respected journalist pointed out that professionals who reach the pinnacle of their careers often become targets.
“I lost my job as the highest-paid editor in Nigeria. I was removed as Editor and promoted as Managing Editor which to me I knew was promotion into redundancy.
“I was in London when it was done. The day I returned to Nigeria on Sunday, by Monday I resigned. They took my official car, the took my driver,” he recalled.
When asked whether he had published stories that unsettled powerful individuals, he responded, “When you get too powerful in your job, you should always know there are people who will come for you, I became too powerful.”
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