Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo is a highly respected Nigerian journalist, editor, and arts and culture advocate whose work has profoundly shaped Nigeria’s media landscape and creative economy over several decades.

He is widely regarded as one of the country’s most influential cultural commentators and thought leaders on arts, literature, and creative enterprise.

He studied Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, where he was mentored by the renowned theatre critic and playwright Dapo Adelugba, a formative influence that shaped his lifelong engagement with performance, storytelling, and cultural criticism.

Jahman began his distinguished career in arts journalism at The Guardian Newspaper in 1987, serving as Arts and Media Editor for a decade. From 2003 to 2013, he was Editor of The Guardian on Sunday, (which later in 2005, included The GuardianLife Magazine), where he played a pivotal role in elevating arts, culture, lifestyle, and creative industry discourse within mainstream media.

Through his editorial leadership, he influenced the careers of many Nigerian writers, theatre artists, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and cultural entrepreneurs, helping to institutionalize the arts as a serious economic and social sector.

In recognition of his enduring contributions to Nigerian literature and cultural development, former President Muhammadu Buhari publicly commended him on his 60th birthday, acknowledging his role in nurturing literary culture and creative expression in Nigeria. He was also conferred with the 2024 Defender of Cultural Rights awards by UNESCO.

Beyond journalism, Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo is a tireless advocate for the creative economy as a driver of national development, consistently bridging culture, policy, and enterprise.

His deep institutional memory of Nigeria’s creative sectors, combined with his ability to engage practitioners, policymakers, and investors, makes him a trusted convener and moderator of high-level conversations.

As Moderator of the session “Creative Economy: The Next Big Thing” at the WIEG Investment Summit, Jahman brings unmatched insight, intellectual depth, and cultural authority to conversations on unlocking investment, policy support, and sustainable growth across Africa’s creative industries.