On the 15th day of December 2016, The Nigerian Observer newspaper held its annual Forum of togetherness. I was told that it is an annual forum put in place to reward dedicated members of staff and other allied stuff. Prominent among invited guests was the erstwhile president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Edo State branch who told the gathering that he is a product of The Nigerian Observer. My friends from online media, together with the cream of the journalism profession in Edo State attended the Forum.
My being there was like a second homecoming of sorts. In 1989 or thereabouts after reading a piece by Anthony Enahoro, I resolved to try to write as he did, being an undergraduate then. But I had no idea how to get my articles published. The breakthrough came however after I read another piece by a senior student of mine then, Mr. Osasere Adagbonyi. Mr. Adagbonyi asked me to write and send him anything I fancied. I did so and the next time I saw him, he was all smiles, telling me that he had enjoyed my piece and that I was good to go. Therefore, for the four years I spent as an undergraduate, I was one of those who contributed regularly to the ACADA GIST column, together with opinion pieces every now and then for The Nigerian Observer. My editors Mike Opute, Ofure Osehobo, Flora Okoye and Nasamu Jacobson were a great help then. Even though I was always paid for my writing then, there was something special about a by-line which money cannot buy. In those days as a student, I would bring my copy from school, and Mr. Opute would ask the typist to type it on a manual typewriter after Mr Osehobo had edited it. It was difficult work. There were no computers then, and power was always in short supply. What was not in short supply then, however was the Ubuntu in The Nigerian Observer. There was humanity there, and there was an intellectual excitement which brought out the best in your creative potential as a journalist. Therefore, part of what I want to discuss today is related to the entire process and the machinery used in the publication of a modern manuscript.
But coming to this place again on that day of The Nigerian Observer Forum was a mixed bag of emotions. This was where my writing and training as a journalist was nurtured. But indeed, it was not just me; most persons who are big today in the practice of journalism and from this parts certainly would have cut their teeth and honed their skills here. Yet, as I walked into the library of this esteemed newspaper house, I was to get the feeling of walking into the year 1990 in 2016. It was an awkward feeling. Yes, here I was in a library which appeared to be frozen in time, no different from the one in 1990, without air conditioners, dusty and rotting away, but I was to be excited as well to have the privilege of going through some of the work which I had done then. It was this awkward rush of emotions that made me leave as soon as the keynote address began.
I will not be the one who will tell you that all the machines for production today in The Nigerian Observer will not qualify for a place in a modern museum. I will not be the one to tell you as well that every attempt at ‘bringing back the lost glory of this great centre of robust journalism has been frustrating. I will not be one to tell you that The Nigerian Observer is a state government paper, and criticism of government policies and programmes has always been tempered by civil service considerations. Those things already have been said by the man who should say them. But what I would tell you is that I will not support bringing The Nigerian Observer back to its ‘lost glory’, especially if that lost glory will consign The Nigerian Observer to the past.
During the interactive session organized by CSOs before the September governorship elections in Edo state, I worked for my organization as some kind of rapporteur. In that position, I stood as close to the present governor, Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki as possible. In all that time, I studied his temperament and watched him closely. Is he choleric? Does he have sanguinary instincts? From where I stood, could I describe him as melancholic or is phlegmatic? It was impossible to say but I discovered that he took notes. I saw his handwriting and it was as cursive as ever. Nobody writes cursive if that person has not gone to a proper school. And having gone to a proper school, my guess is that Mr Obaseki is an intelligent man who should know that criticism – whether malignant or benign, whether virulent or contrived – from a newspaper like The Nigerian Observer or any newspaper for that matter – is tonic that helps him focus on his campaign promises, one of which is providing 200,000 jobs for young people in Edo State. Mr Obaseki should realize that a newspaper like The Nigerian Observer should not just be a mouthpiece of state to be used as a gramophone to orchestrate or amplify government achievements. It should be more than that, because as we progress along the millennium what we find painfully pertinent is that the greatest threat to innovation in governance today is not the journalist or writer or critic who lampoons government. The greatest threats are the yes-men, those who deliberately refuse to interrogate and lampoon government because of the anticipated risks. The way it is now, that is what this esteemed paper has been reduced to over the years. If Mr Godwin Obaseki decides to revamp The Nigerian Observer, history will look more kindly on him than on his predecessors.
Etemiku writes from Benin City.
@DsighRobert.
