Alhaji[1] Ismail Babatunde Jose OFR[2] (born in Lagos on December 13, 1925, died August 3, 2008[3]) was a Nigerian journalist and newspaper editor. He was described by The Guardian as the "legendary doyen of Nigerian journalism" and as "one of Nigeria's most significant media figures"[4]; by The Independent as the "newspaper editor who dominated journalism in Nigeria for three decades" and as "the mighty tree whose seedlings sprouted other titans of the profession"[5]; and by the British Broadcasting Corporation as "the grandfather of Nigerian journalism".[6]
Jose's father was a trader, originally from Ikare</ref>[1] in Ondo State, who had moved to Lagos. Babatunde Jose received his education at Yaba Methodist school and St Saviour's College, then began his career in journalism. He worked briefly for the Daily Comet, then became a trainee at the Daily Times in 1941, aged 16. He worked for several papers (including the Daily Mirror in Fleet Street in London for a year in 1951), then returned to the Daily Times and became editor in 1957, then a board member in 1958. Nigeria became independent in 1960, and Jose benefited from a policy of Africanisation: he "was appointed the company's first African managing director in 1962, becoming chairman as well in 1968". Over the following years, the Daily Times became Nigeria's best-selling newspaper. In 1965, he was awarded the title Officer of the Federal Republic.[7][8]
"[K]een on educated journalists," Jose "went out of his way to set up a training school and to employ graduates".[9] According to The Independent, he shaped his trainees and graduates "into irreverent reporters and columnists who could deflate the egos of the pompous politicians and military men who ruled the country", though he "eschewed partisan politics".[10] One of his trainees, Segun Osoba, later Governor of Ogun State, said of him that he "encouraged intellectualism in Nigerian journalism" and "produced an array of highly successful journalists [...] many of whom have also gone on to establish their own newspapers and produce many other journalists".[11]
Following a coup in 1975 by General Murtala Mohammed, the Daily Times was forced to sell 60% of its shares to the government, and Jose was "eased out", departing a year later. The newspaper subsequently declined.[12]
From 1976 onwards, he pursued a career as "a businessman and media guru, holding such positions as chairman of the Nigerian Television Authority".[13] He also served as "president of the Ahmadiyya Islamic movement and on many committees and industry organisations".[14]
Though he never graduated from a university, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law by the University of Benin. "Unusually for a Muslim, he [also] received the Pope Pius medal for fostering religious understanding."[15]
In 1987, he published his autobiography, Walking a Tight Rope[16].