The Publisher of Global Excellence, Mayor Abiodun Akinpelu started his career as an information officer who was posted to Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons.  There he met some detainees who encouraged him to write.  And from The Guardian, he moved on to Prime People, Vintage People, Fame and now Excellence.

Agreeing that journalism has rewarded him well, his story is a chapter in the history of soft-sell...

Many people look up to you as a role model, who do you look up to?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, because he's one leader that politically fought against all odds; almost becoming a god for the Yoruba race. 

As a young man, what was your wish in life?

Yes, when I was young, I had always wanted to be a lawyer, because I was privileged to come from a very comfortable but polygamous home.  After my HSC, I was not admitted to read Law in UNILAG.  I could not meet the cut-off mark, because the mark was high at that time.  My other option was International Relations, but you can't do that as first degree in UNILAG.  You have to do History and then you do it as your masters.  So, it was when I was reading History that I decided to become a journalist.

What fond memories of your childhood do you still carry with you?

When I was in boarding school, I didn’t come home on holidays, because it’s an international school.  We mixed with students from all over Africa, and they didn't go home.  They go only at the end of the session.  So, we played together.  But my father would tell us that if we should attain between the first and third position, that he was going to take us on picnic, because he had a permanent suite at Premier Hotel, Ibadan - and we used to go there.  I had a very good time.

Did you at any point think of becoming a journalist, and did you ever think you could become a publisher?

It was when I was in the university studying History.  I used to write some articles and then I thought of becoming a journalist. So, the only job that I applied for during my youth service at the College of Business Studies, Maiduguri, was for a federal information officer. Because  Nigeria was still good.  As a corper, they invited people for interview, and I was interviewed in Maiduguri.  But I was not employed as an information officer, I was employed as a social welfare officer and posted to Maximum Security Prisons, Kirikiri.  So, luckily for me, I had the good fortune of meeting with Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson.  At that time, they were jailed for contravening Decree 4 under Buhari.  So, it even fired my passion for writing, because I was like, these were people I read and all that.