The death has been announced of the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Weekly Star, MR. Owei Kobina Sikpi. The Amassoma-born journalist died over the weekend at a private hospital in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
He was in his 50s.
Family sources said the fearless media practitioner was suddenly knocked down by a strange sickness which held him down from December 2011 and never gave him a breathing space till his death.
Most politicians and government officials in the Niger Delta region and beyond dreaded him due to his own style of criticism of government policies especially where it is against the citizenry but was the delight and amiable general of oppressed in the society. His newspaper, Weekly Star and Weekend Star were the delight and joker of the printers, distributors and vendors alike, as his sensational headlines were sure hot sales any day.
The late Sikpi was a very strong ally who was ever ready to teach up coming journalist the techniques of the game and how to succeed in the profession. Publisher as he was called, was ever ready to assist anybody who came around him.
He would be remembered for the flair and finesse he brought to the profession especially in the Rivers Publishers Association forum where he was held in high esteem by his colleagues.
Joe Kalu
