The Burden of A Columnist.

By: Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo

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It is amazing how time flies. It is now twenty-five years that yours sincerely began this thankless but rewarding job of assuming the conscience of the poor, the marginalized, the voiceless and the haves-not in a nation where ignorance is bliss and the rulers are intolerant of constructive criticisms. Yet, my voyage into journalism was fortuitous. It began with a letter to the editor of a magazine in the 1970s by an innocent lad concerned with the deplorable roads in Owo, Ondo State his home town. I didn’t know I had been published in the then Trustmagazine in 1979 until my cousin Ganiyu Oladele brought a copy and showed me. That urge to see one’s name in print, be in currency and contribute to ideas and opinion egged me on until I entered the University of Lagos in the 1980s. The University of Lagos, Nigeria was (and still is) the most cosmopolitan institution in Nigeria and entering that great citadel afforded me the opportunity to see the veritable power of the press for societal change. What initially started as a serendipitous passion, and then became a vocation soon turned into a professional calling. I began with the defunct National Concord newspaper in 1984 after freelancing for nearly a year while still an undergraduate. I could remember the first story assignment that Mrs. Betty Irabor (nee Bello Osagie), an alumna of the University of Lagos who was then Deputy Features Editor gave me. It was on the problems with made-in-Nigeria goods and when I turned in the story twenty four hours later, Mrs. Irabor read and read it and gleefully took it to Mr. Ola Amupitan, the Features Editor. The copy was published un-edited the following day and that was how I cut my journalism teeth. I wrote for Alhaji Liad Tella, the Foreign Editor, every Wednesday; contributed to Mrs. Labake Adebiyi’s Consumers Page every Tuesday, maintained the Islam Page on Friday on behalf of Mr. Femi Abbas who was on leave, wrote occasional editorial comments for National Concord through Mr. Tom Borha, the Chairman, Editorial Board; wrote occasionally for the then Concord Weekly edited by Mr. Louis Obi which later became African Concord magazine while also writing op-ed articles for the Sunday Concord edited by Mr. Sina Adedipe and the daily maintained by Mr. Okechuku Ifionu.

I also berthed with the Ilorin-based The Herald newspaper during the Editorship of Mr. Doyin Nureini Mahmoud, a fine gentleman and hardworking professional. Mr. Ademola Adetula, the News Editor was constantly egging me to make the front page and I did. Mr. Phil Ayinla, the Deputy Editor taught me newspaper production and how to meander the complex religious politics in the ancient city of Ilorin. I traveled far and wide where I met a lot of personalities across Kwara and late Kogi States. I remember covering events with Mr. Smart Adeyemi now a Congressman in Abuja, and the late Chief Michael Asaju, former President, Nigerian Union of Journalists. I missed marrying an Ilorin woman who was a scion of the Emir of Ilorin. From The Herald, I moved to Sunday Champion, then to Newbreed and The President magazines at Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos. The late Chief Chris Abrochukwu Okolie was one of the bravest and professional journalists I have ever worked with in Nigeria. Although irascible and garrulous, his knack for exclusive stories and the sheer fearlessness to publish and be damned was unequaled in Nigeria. Indeed, his magazines were the incubators for breeding some of the finest hands in the business and I was happy that I passed through that man. From Okolie’s outfit, I moved to The Guardian. Then I moved to the Daily Times newspaper. By the time I had spent ten years working for others in some of the best newspapers/magazines in Nigeria, I discovered that one could not really make any impact in Nigeria unless you owned your own voice. The dominant press in Nigeria, just like here in the United States tends to become conservative as they grow because of their owners. The institutional limitation is compounded by the preponderance power of advertisers and other vested interests so having seen the “inner workings” of the institutional press, I hit the road scouting for investors. Before I set up Razor and Evening News, I tried my hand on a feminine-focused magazine called Lady but the promoters had ulterior motives. Although I had an understanding and excellent chairman, Prince Adeseye Ogunlewe who eventually became an AD Senator representing Lagos State and later Minister of Works under Obasanjo but one of the directors who is now dead had a selfish intention and eventually we parted ways. Almost two years later, Razor and Evening News hit the newsstands and the rest, as they say, is now history.

One journalist I would have loved to work with was Mr. Sonala Olumhense who left The Guardian as Editorial Page Editor for the defunct ThisWeek magazine as Editor and later floated The City Tempo. Many of the best hands were ecstatic about Uncle S.O’s pet project as we used to call Sonala Olumhense: Chido Nwakama, Kayode Fayemi, now AD Gubernatorial Candidate for Ekiti Stare and a host of others. But something happened and the plug was pulled off the project. Mr. Soji Omotunde; my boss then at Daily Times was also another professional journalist to work with who understood the nitty-gritty of newsgathering and newspaper management. Jonathan Ishaku, my boss at the Sunday Champion and Mr. Dayo Onibile, Deputy Editor, Daily Champion were some of the best hands in the business. I remembered one day, Mr. Sina Adedipe called me into his office at Sunday Concord and told me to rework my article. “Moshood, your language is too strong, you tend to write with your emotions,” he counseled. “You need to tone it down.” It was during the Buhari-Idiagbon military regime in 1984 and the fear of the draconian Decree Number 4 was the beginning of wisdom. I also remembered the day two of my colleagues met in my living room at Audi Road GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State while I was serving the NYSC with The Herald newspapers. Chido Nwangwu who later became the Publisher of US-Africa magazine here in Houston, TX was serving at Radio Kwara and Seye Kehinde, now Publisher of City News in Lagos was serving at Kwara State College of Technology.. We planned to set up a magazine and discussed till the wee hours of the morning working out the logistics. Those were the days! There was one senior colleague in Nigerian journalism whose contribution to the growth of journalism in that country can never be diminished: Prince Henry Odukomaiya, former Editor of Sunday Times, founder and Editor-in-Chief/Managing Director, Concord Newspapers and founder and Editor-in-Chief/Managing Director, Champion Newspapers. He has the knack to attract the best hands in the business and I know of no other journalist in that country as hardworking, professional and thorough as that man. An ambidextrous wonk who, at in his 70s was still logging in nearly 12 to 15 hours a day. He loved the profession and gave his all to his passion.

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By the time I was publishing Razor and Evening News, Nwangwu had left for the United States while Kehinde was one of the Executive Editors and Co-founders of The News magazine with Messrs Bayo Onanuga, Kunle Ajibade, Dapo Olorunyomi and Babafemi Ojodu. I missed working in The News and I was happy that I didn’t work there otherwise; the Razor opening may not have materialized. Two years after Razor hit the streets, Kehinde visited my house. I advised him to leave The News and set up his own outfit. I am happy he heeded my advice and I am sure he’s doing fine now as a publisher in Lagos.

Now that one is a columnist, it is still refreshing contributing to ideas and debate even though one is in the academia and a law student. But keeping up with weekly column can be very demanding when there are competing attractions and sundry commitments. When you have managed more than 50 Reporters and Correspondents, dozen numbers of advertising executives, project managers, sundry other production, circulation, accounting and administrative staffers, it's a sense of déjà vu once again to maintain a weekly column. Besides superintending these newspaper crews, there are other menageries of activities, duties and assignments a publisher who also doubles as editor of two publications has to discharge. Combined the suffocating ambiance of military autocracy where press dissension was seriously cauterized as we witnessed during the years of late Gen. Sani Abacha in Nigeria, publishing and editing at the same time could be very tortuous and demanding indeed. We pioneered the birth of guerrilla journalism in Nigeria between 1992 and 1999 and the press lived up to its name as the Fourth Estate of the Realm. And if I had the opportunity, I will not hesitate to do it all over again.