ON December 26, 1991, Algerians voted in the first round of parliamentary elections. Over 40 parties fielded candidates. As returns started coming through, it became clear the country was in the throes of a political earthquake. The Islamic Salvation Front, FIS, took 189 of the 231 seats decided in the first round of elections for the 430-seat parliament, trouncing the ruling National Liberation Front, FLN, which only got 15 seats.
As the Babangida transition programme grew more interminable, civic groups interested in policing it agreed to coalesce into the Campaign for Democracy, CD. At the time of the annulment, it was led by Beko Ransome-Kuti, a medical doctor and younger brother to Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Rotimi was a precocious polymath from an early age. It was close to impossible to find a subject under the sun on which he was not reasonably informed. He could easily have been home-schooled but, Nigeria being what it is, he reluctantly got persuaded that it was useful to own a university degree. In reality, the degree certificate needed him more than he needed it.
After the crisis of the June 12 annulment, Rotimi masterminded several civic and advocacy start-ups, including the Journalists for Democratic Rights, JODER, and later CREDO, an organisation that advocated around Africa for the protection of free expression and associated political rights. In exile to the United Kingdom, Rotimi became a member of the executive council of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, eventually going on to lead its Black Members Council as the Chair.