Our Man Crush Monday, Adewale Sabitudeen Adeyemi, is known for his commitment to expanding opportunity, catalysing innovations, and encouraging service to society through his active participation in the creative industry.
‘Dewale got his start in the industry in the 1990s as an actor and a cartoonist. While studying at the University of Benin, he worked as an actor with Africa Independent Television (AIT) in the television series, School of Mischief from 1996 to 1998. He then worked as a contributing cartoonist at Punch Newspapers from 1999 to 2000, a period wherein the media house was rated the best in the country. Soon after he graduated from university, he joined the animation team of Blue Chip Studios which produced Nigeria’s first-ever feature animated series, Kumbe on national television. His 2D animations were used in the documentary, The Making of MTN Advert – Mama Na Boy.
He exhibited his artworks at the National Arts Theatre, Lagos with the Professor Wole Soyinka Centre in honour of the celebration of Lagos State’s golden jubilee tagged “Lagos at 50”. In 2019 his artworks were sold out at the exhibition organised by Crimson Bow Initiatives to raise funds for the plight of sickle cell warriors, and he dedicated the entire proceeds from his works to causes supporting the eradication of the disease.
‘Dewale diversified his media experience by venturing into publishing. He worked as a Visualiser with Tanus Books Limited, which publishes school textbooks for use by private and public schools across Nigeria. He has also worked as a ghost author of six textbooks recommended and approved by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and federal and state governments for primary and secondary education, and three of his Junior Secondary School textbooks are currently being used for the Universal Basic Education programme across Nigeria. He is the Publisher of Total Gossips magazine, and in 2019 was nominated for the Nigeria Media Nite Out Award.
He continues to hone his craft and business acumen, and has participated in courses run by NIIT, Daystar Leadership Academy, GIIT, and Harvard Business School. We at Pride Magazine Nigeria celebrate ‘Dewale’s steady contribution to Nigeria’s creative industry, and wish him greater success.