Personality in Focus
The Day of The Jackal Author, Frederick Forsyth, Dies at 86
Best-selling author Frederick Forsyth, known for thriller novels including The Day Of The Jackal, has died at the age of 86, his agent has said.
“We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers,” Jonathan Lloyd said in a statement.
Forsyth published more than 25 books, also including The Odessa File and The Dogs of War, and sold 75 million books around the world, he said.
His publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: “Still read by millions across the world, Freddie’s thrillers define the genre and are still the benchmark to which contemporary writers aspire. He leaves behind a peerless legacy which will continue to excite and entertain for years to come.”
Born in Kent in 1938, Forsyth joined the RAF at the age of 18 before becoming a war correspondent for the BBC and Reuters. He revealed in 2015 he also worked for British intelligence agency MI6 for more than 20 years.
Many of his fictional plots drew on his real-life experiences around the world.
He made his name with his first novel, 1971’s The Day Of The Jackal, which he wrote when he was out of work.
“[I was] skint, in debt, no flat, no car, no nothing and I just thought, ‘How do I get myself out of this hole?’ And I came up with probably the zaniest solution – write a novel,” he said.
It is a gripping tale, set in 1963, about an Englishman hired to assassinate the French president at the time, Charles de Gaulle.
The Day Of The Jackal was turned into a 1973 film starring Edward Fox as the Jackal, and then became a TV drama starring Eddie Redmayne last year.
Mr Scott-Kerr said working with Forsyth had been “one of the great pleasures of my professional life”.
“The flow of brilliant plots and ideas aside, he was the most professional writer an editor could hope for,” he said.
“His journalistic background brought a rigour and a metronomic efficiency to his working practice and his nose for and understanding of a great story kept his novels both thrillingly contemporary and fresh. It was a joy and an education to watch him at work.”
Singer Elaine Paige, a friend of Forsyth, said she felt “total sadness” at the news of his death.
“His academic knowledge of places, palaces and geography was bar none,” she wrote on X. “He’ll be much missed for so many reasons.”
English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who worked with Forsyth on Love Never Dies, the follow-up to Phantom of the Opera, said: “He really understood the romance and thrills which make the Phantom such an alluring character.
“Thank you Frederick, for creating stories which will live on for generations in your honour.”
And Conservative MP Sir David Davis said his “great friend” was a “terrific man” and a “fabulous wordsmith”.
“He was a great believer in the old values – he believed in honour and patriotism and courage and directness and straightforwardness and [was] a big defender of our armed forces,” he told Sky News.
Forsyth followed The Day Of The Jackal with The Odessa File in 1972, which was adapted for the big screen in a film starring Jon Voight two years later.
The author had written a follow-up, Revenge of Odessa, with fellow thriller writer Tony Kent, which will be published this August.
His other best-selling works included 1984’s The Fourth Protocol, which became a film starring starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan.
He was made a CBE for services to literature in 1997.
He had two sons with first wife Carole Cunningham. His second wife Sandy Molloy died last October.
BBC
A popular Nigerian highlife musician, Mike Ejeagha, has died at the age of 95.
Popularly known as “Gentleman Mike Ejeagha,” the music legend died on Friday night.
The musician’s eldest son, Emma, who confirmed his passing on Saturday to journalists in Enugu said he died on Friday evening at approximately 8 p.m. at the 32 Garrison Hospital in Enugu after a prolonged illness.
“My father passed away due to a long-standing ailment,” said Emma.
Ejeagha’s legacy is marked by his distinctive style of Igbo folk music, which resonated across multiple generations.
Born on April 4, 1930, in Imezi Owa, Enugu State, Ejeagha rose to prominence during the 1960s and 1980s with timeless hits like Omekagu, Uwa Mgbede Ka Mma, and Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche (Gwogwogwongwo).
Ejeagha’s contributions to preserving and promoting Igbo culture through music are monumental, with over 300 recordings archived in the National Archives of Nigeria.
His recent resurgence in popularity, sparked by the viral dance challenge of his 1983 track Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche in 2024, introduced his music to a younger audience.
Ejeagha’s passing marks the end of an era for Nigerian highlife music, but his legacy endures through his extensive discography and the impact he left on Igbo folklore and music.
The Punch
A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, has died at the age of 89.
The former CJN died in the early hours of Friday, according to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State, Dr Kayode Ajulo.
Uwais served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1995 until his retirement in 2006.
Following his retirement, he chaired the Presidential Electoral Reform Committee inaugurated by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
The committee included prominent figures such as Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and human rights lawyer, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN.
Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced. Tributes from legal, political, and civic leaders are expected to pour in over the coming days.
A former Minister of Education and Petroleum Resources, Professor Jibril Aminu, is dead.
He died in Abuja on Thursday at the age of 85.
The death was confirmed by House of Representatives member, representing Fufore/Song Federal Constituency, Aloyu Boya Wakili, on Thursday.
The lawmaker wrote in a Facebook post thus: “Innalillahi Wa Innah Ilaihirraji’un, today, we’ve lost a shining light. I’m deeply saddened by the passing of our father figure, uncle, and our mentor who left an indelible mark on our lives, his legacy will live on through the countless lives he touched. May Professor Jibril Aminu’s soul rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
His funeral prayers will hold at the National Mosque, Abuja on Thursday.
He would be buried in his home town Song, Song Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
Prof. Jibrin Aminu was born in August 1939 in Adamawa State, Northeast Nigeria.
He graduated in medicine from the University of Ibadan in 1965, and holds a PhD in Medicine from the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School.
He was appointed a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science in 1972, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians , London in 1980 and a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians also in 1980.
He was made a Distinguished Fellow of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College in 2004.
He was a consultant, senior lecturer and sub-dean of Clinical Studies at the University of Ibadan Medical School from 1973 -1975.
He served as the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC from 1975–1979, visiting Professor of Medicine at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington DC from1979–1980, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, 1980-1985.
He was also Professor of Medicine at the University of Maiduguri from1979–1995.
Professor Aminu held office as Minister of Education and later Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (1989–1992).
He was Nigerian Ambassador to the USA from 1999–2003; and was elected Senator for the Adamawa Central constituency in May 2003 and re-elected in 2007.
On January 2, 2010, Aminu was installed as the “Bobaselu of The Source” by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade.
