Ex-Governor Osoba, Nigerian media & Brown Envelope Syndrome Every Nigerian journalist must read this: When he was Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba was very popular among Journalists in Nigeria. He rose through the ranks to become the CEO of the then DAILY TIMES OF NIGERIA PLC and at that time SUNDAY TIMES was said to be circulating over 500,000 copies. You over there: Assist in sanitizing the system and learn from Osoba... Hear him: SUNDAY PUNCH JUNE 29, 2014 I never collected brown envelopes from anybody punchng/feature/interview/i-never-collected-brown-envelopes-from-anybody-osoba/ I never collected brown envelopes from anybody —Osoba A veteran journalist and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, tells Kayode Falade in this interview about the rise and fall of The Daily Times and politics in the defunct Western Region When and where were you born? I was born in Osogbo and I grew up in Osogbo (Osun State). My father was one of the people that developed Egbatedo, the Egbas’ quarters in Osogbo, and my father’s house is still there till date – number 44, Egbatedo. While I was growing up in Osogbo, my father used to buy Akede Eko, a Yoruba newspaper that summarised the weekly events. It was a weekly paper and very famous in the 40s. It was then I imbibed the culture of reading newspapers and got my initial, not conventional, training as a journalist. The editor was the father of Isaac Thomas that was my colleague at Daily Times. I was at the African Church School, Osogbo. I went to Apostolic Teachers’ Training College, Ilesa but was kicked out for being too short. When the inspector saw me, he said I was too young to be a teacher because of my height. My uncle then, the famous Apostle Joseph Babalola of Christ Apostolic Church took me to the school. I used to spend my holidays with him at Efon-Alaaye in those days. I mised two years. I had to move to Lagos and sit the entrance examination into Methodist Boys High School, Lagos. After leaving the school, I worked at Lagos City Council as a Building Inspector. We were trained for a few weeks in inspectorate education. At that time, there was serious evaluation of construction sites. No cases of building collapse. Why did you leave? I ran away because the place was loaded with corruption. At that time, Lagos did not go beyond Apapa Road; all the areas like Iganmu and Western Road were swampy and bushy. Ojuelegba didn’t go beyond Yaba. Then, people used to construct building that we referred to as contravention, once they didn’t have building approvals. The corruption then was to close your eyes for a fee and allow the people to contravene. My first terrible experience was when my boss took me around and asked us to close our eyes when somebody was constructing a house at Iganmu. Our senior bosses also had informants who gave them information about such buildings. The following week I was asked to lead a team that would demolish same buildings. It pricked my conscience and I told my boss that I wanted to leave the job. He didn’t agree but posted me to another unit where I inspected buildings at Adeniran Ogunsanya, Modupe Johnson and those LSDPC buildings that were built to specification. I inspected the late Peter Obe, the ace photographer’s house. As a building inspector, I just got to the site and performed my duties. Then, they even left some money for the inspectors but I didn’t collect such money. As a result of the corruption, I was not comfortable with the place anymore. I opted for my ‘A’ levels. Within a year, I made my three papers. After my ‘A’ levels, I was to go to the university when Alhaji (Babatunde) Jose asked me to come for holiday job in Daily Times. I was offered employment in Daily Times on June 8, 1964 and that was the turning point in my life. I resigned from the Lagos City Council and joined Daily Times 50 years ago. How did you meet Alhaji Jose? My guardian, with whom I lived in Apongbon, Alhaji J.K.I Makanju, was his cousin. Alhaji Jose usually brought the first edition of the paper to our house. He offered me a holiday job. With the publication of my first story, I was offered a job and sent to the training school under an expatriate from the UK Daily Mirror. Why did you prefer the Daily Times job? When I was in Methodist Boys High School, I was involved in the school magazine called Magnet. I imbibed the rudiments of journalism from there; as I wrote and I also edited. I also wrote letters to the editors on issues, even before I joined Daily Times. I had interest of a kind in journalism, even though my interest was to read Law. That interest was truncated by Alhaji Jose deliberately. Within my first six months in Daily Times, he told me not to go for Law and he immediately sent me to the University of Lagos to go for a session course in journalism sponsored by the International Press Institute in collaboration with UNILAG. IPI had a school of journalism in Kenya and two expatriates were sent down to UNILAG to train journalists. I was picked by Alhaji Jose as a cub reporter with experienced journalists for the programme. When I came back, within a year and half, I was sent to the United Kingdom for a session in Commonwealth Press Union in Journalism. That changed my life and made me to devote my life to journalism. Which beat did you cover when you started journalism? In our days, we started with what we called ‘Police reports.’ We went to the police stations every morning; they (usually) had overnight report of cases. So, I started with crime reporting, then moved to the Magistrates’ Courts, and then to the High Courts. And within a year, I was moved to the Parliament. In my time, you graduate as a reporter from a stage to another. I covered the Parliament at the Tafawa Balewa Square, where I had close interaction with the likes of Maitama Sule, one of the youngest ministers then; Chief Okotie Eboh, Matthew Mbu; Tafawa Balewa; Adeniran Ogunsanya and so many parliamentarians and ministers. From the Parliament, I was posted to the Political Desk. I was fortunate to cover the likes of President Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Obafemi Awolowo before the coup of 1966. What was your level of participation as a journalist during the ‘emergency years’? Full participation! As a young reporter, during the 1964 federal election, I was posted to Ogbomoso to cover S.L. Akintola, the then Premier of the Western Region; and Dr Christopher Adeoye, who was also from Ogbomoso and contesting under the Action Group. Interestingly, I went to stay with Adeoye because I had my leaning towards the Action Group. Then, they had United Progressive Grand Alliance, an alliance between the NCNC and the AG. Suddenly, they decided to boycott the 1964 election. I argued with them not to boycott it but they had to obey the party instruction. In the West, there was almost total boycott. Opara and co in the East went ahead with the election. That was the beginning of the first crisis in Nigeria because the minority became government at the center and those who had scored low votes became parliamentarians in the West, against those who had the support of the grassroots. Then Tafawa Balewa said he formed a government of national unity. Awolowo was then in prison. When Awolowo came out from prison, he told me how he kept sending messages to them not to boycott that election. Who then gave them the instruction to boycott the election? Then, Adegbenro was the acting leader, Awolowo was in jail. It was an agreement between Adegbenro and Michael Opara. As a reporter then, were you involved any life threatening situation or dangerous assignment during the crisis? The real crisis started after the Western Region election in 1965, which the NNDP, that we called Demo then, massively rigged. I was posted to Abeokuta. I stayed with Soji Odunjo, son of the late J. F. Odunjo, the man who wrote Alawiye. I stayed with him in Ibara, Abeokuta. It was my first experience of deep investigative journalism. We linked up with the Police. Then, there was The Post and Telegraph Department; it was the period of analogue telephone system. There was one District Officer in Abeokuta called Justin. The Premier, the late Akintola, used to call Justin and give him instructions on what to do and how to rig the coming election. Anytime Akintola called Justin, the people at the exchange would link me up with the telephone at Soji Odunjo’s house and I would listen to all their conversations as if it was a conference call. Then, I knew all their game plans. I was involved in that election, whereby the NNDP rigged the election against the masses’ wish and that led to the major crisis in the Western Region then. It was what led to the Operation Weeti e. How did you come by a personal telephone as at that time? I’m a communication man. Ask any of my friends, if you phoned me even as a governor, I would return your calls. Even now, if you called and I missed your call, I would call you back. The awareness has been with me for a long time. As a media man, I saw it as a tool to enhance my job. It was a novelty then but I applied for and got a telephone because I saw that as a young reporter, I needed it. I got my telephone in my first year as a reporter. Is it true that you were the only reporter with a telephone in the whole country? Yes, I was living in a room with a telephone. The number was 3003. I was fortunate. Were you well paid as a reporter or ‘brown envelopes’ made you rich? I won’t say that I was rich but I was a comfortable reporter. In our days, if you were enterprising, you would make more money than your salary. Although there were brown envelopes then my colleagues would tell you that I abhor brown envelopes. There was an election into the NUJ presidency; I led a campaign against the man who was the master collector of brown envelopes and we brought up a dark horse in the person of late Mike Pearse who just came from Kaduna to Lagos. He defeated the man who had been in Lagos because we supported him. We strongly campaigned against the idea of brown envelopes; we used that to campaign against him as the man was called, “Baba brown envelope.” Pearse won that election and became the National President. I can speak confidently that despite the fact that there were brown envelopes then, from Sardauna to Okotie Eboh, Awolowo, Azikiwe, Balewa and so many others; as close as I was to them, I never asked them for any favour or help because we were trained by Alhaji Jose to be confident and professional about the job. If you are good on the job, you will be comfortable. He had a system of giving you bonuses, if you had good stories. I was getting a lot of scoops and exclusive stories, so I was getting a lot of bonuses. Every week, we had a pink sheet; it was our claim sheet. Every Friday, based on our performance, the editor would approve it. So, we had extra money in our pockets for the weekend. As time went on, apart from my job in the Daily Times, I was a correspondent for the BBC, American Associated Press and the Newsweek. I was making foreign exchange from these areas. I wrote to the Daily Times to take permission before embarking on it. What I was giving to them (foreign media) was not in conflict with my work in The Daily Times. Alhaji Jose encouraged me and others to grow unfettered, using our ability and talent. How did you become editor of the Daily Times? It was on the day of a coup. I got a call from my military friends that I should put on my radio. As I turned it on, I heard the announcement of the coup by the late Gen. Joe Garba announcing the overthrow of (the military Head of State) Gen. (Yakubu) Gowon. I quickly dressed up and went straight to the office. I was the first to get to the office around 7.30am. Alhaji Jose came in shortly after from Ikoyi. Then, I was the Deputy Editor to Aare Oyebola. Alhaji Jose and I started working on the production of the evening paper for the day. We had Evening Times at that time. I was monitoring the radio, while Alhaji Jose was editing and casting the headlines. By the time we were about to finish production, Oyebola came in and Alhaji Jose was already furious and bitter. When he greeted him, he didn’t answer. By 12.30 to 1.00pm, we were through with the production. I went back home after the production to eat and take my bath. All telephone exchanges on the Island were cut off, while telephones exchanges in other part of the country were working. I contacted General Abisoye, who was my source. I’ve had his permission to reveal the source of my information. He was at the Army Barracks, Yaba and he told me that he had just returned from the meeting of top Army officers in Dodan Barracks. He asked me to meet him. I drove immediately to his house in the Yaba barracks. He told me the story of what had happened and that all the service chiefs and the head of Police, the Chief of Staff and his deputy had been dismissed. He then joked that ‘you people in Daily Times have been harassing Gen. Murtala Muhammed. He is now the new Head of State, go and face him now.’ Before the appointment, he (Muhammed) was the Minister of Communication. He had just awarded the contract of ITT to Chief Moshood Abiola. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Chief Akindele, had written in opposition to the award of the contract; that the minister exceeded his power. That was the day of courageous civil servants. He (Akindele) stated that the minister awarded the contract without going through the normal channel. He awarded the contract not because he was corrupt but because he wanted things to move fast. Gen. Abisoye was the Minister of Health; Gen. Obasanjo was the Minister of Works, while Papa Edwin Clark was in charge of Information. I was worried and I asked him how much of the information he gave me I could use and he said I should use my discretion. He, however, promised that if I ran into trouble, he would stand by me. I left his house around 5.30pm. I drove back to the office but met an empty office, as the editor had dismissed everybody on the excuse that there was curfew and that everybody should go home before the curfew started. By the time I got to the office, the curfew had started and there was no way I could contact anybody. What did you do? All around Kakawa were heavily armed and fierce looking military men. On the Island, the telephone had been cut off. I was in a dilemma. In Lagos, night clubs were still running but once you were inside the club house, you couldn’t go out again. Then, I remembered during the civil war how, as young reporters and despite the permanent curfew, we were able to move around. What we did then was to go along with copies of our newspapers; when we got to checkpoints, we gave them to the soldiers; they hailed us and allowed us passage. We were given exemption. I went into production room and collected about 50 copies of the paper and started giving them to the soldiers. At that time, Alhaji Jose, as the Managing Director, was also the Editorial Director; that is the Editor-in-Chief. He used to meet with all of us every Monday, so we had direct access to him. I decided that the best option was to drive from Kakawa to Ikoyi to take his permission to change the front page of the paper. When I got there, I told him that it was a story I got from a reliable source. Then, I couldn’t tell him my source. Later before he died, I did tell him my source because Gen. Abisoye had given me the permission to do so. When Alhaji Jose heard the news, he followed me back to the office and we both worked on the story. As the lead story, my story was full. The following day, there was tension in the country around 9am, when Muhammed came on air as the new Head of State. What we had (as cover story) before then was just the Joe Garba statement. It would have been terrible if we did not publish the story because the curfew was only in Lagos. In Ibadan, there was the Sketch; Observer in Benin; the Chronicle in Calabar; the Tide in Port Harcourt; the Star in Enugu; the Herald in Ilorin; and the New Nigerian in Kaduna. All the other papers published the broadcast of Muhammed. What that means is that if I didn’t go back to the office, Daily Times would not have published the Muhammed story. The extract I got from Gen. Abisoye made our story juicier and bigger than the other media houses. We didn’t finish production until 4am. We slept in the office because it was too late for us to go home. We had to wait until after the curfew before I could go home the following day. That led to Alhaji Jose calling the Board of Directors, which led to the change. But your predecessor alleged that you stabbed him in the back. It is a good excuse for him. The problem with him was that he did not have the practical knowledge of newspapering. If he did, he would not have ordered that the paper should be closed during that period. Lade Bonuola is still alive; he went to the Human Resource Director to make funds available so that they could buy snacks and some people could stay behind. The man said he could not overrule the editor’s decision. Bonuola, as a seasoned journalist at the sub desk, was wondering how an editor could order the newspaper closed down. It showed that he (Oyebola) lacked experience. He should have blamed his inadequacies and inexperience for losing out. He was advised but he refused to heed the advice. I became editor after that incident. How did you become the Managing Editor of the Herald? As a result of my appointment, there was crisis in the Daily Times. I had a friend then – S. B. Awoniyi – who called me and said, ‘if there is crisis over your appointment, why not leave the paper and help us to revive Herald. I told him that I could not leave the Daily Times in crisis; it would be as if I was abandoning the ship. I was reluctant because I could not imagine a sociable person like me going to live in Ilorin, a semi-rural capital. I was at an editorial conference preparing for the day’s work when it was announced on the radio that I had been appointed as the General Manager of Herald. I went with my wife the following day. I was not happy but I had to go. It was my first major experience in newspaper management. As God would have it, Peter Ajayi and I were able to turn it around. It became a serious challenge for other newspapers. We made a success of Herald. How did you leave Herald? Col. Ibrahim Taiwo gave us free hand but when Major General Ini came in, he wanted to be editing the paper. He was meddling in the editorial. One day, he sacked the editor, Peter Ajayi, because he (Ini) said we were not from Kwara. He had forgotten that my mother was from Kwara. Since I was on secondment, I called Lagos that I was returning to Daily Times. Obasanjo got wind of the story and he ordered him to return the editor. That was how an editor sacked in the morning was returned to his post before nightfall. Eventually, he was sacked and Peter took them to court. I, as the GM, gave evidence against my company that he did nothing to deserve the sack. The late Justice Kawu gave judgement in favour of Peter. I decided after the case to leave the Herald and return to the Daily Times. Dele Cole was in charge then; they could not find a suitable place to fix me. Alex Ibru and I decided to start work on the Guardian. Before the Guardian came out, there was vacancy in the Sketch. I applied and got the job. Before getting to the Sketch, there was a crisis as I was touted as Awolowo’s boy. Obasanjo stopped the job but unfortunately for him, Awolowo’s party won the three states that controlled the Sketch and as they were sworn in, I was asked to resume based on my earlier letter of appointment that was cancelled by Obasanjo. My life has been a life of major crises. The crisis of the Sketch during your tenure as governor was attributed to you, what was the role you played in it? There was in-fighting in the board of Sketch over Dupe Ajayi and Fisan Bankale. The story was that I advised that they should bring in Lade Bonoula as Managing Director and I was accused of wanting to build an empire for myself in Sketch. So I pulled back. Later, the governors came together and said I should handle everything the way I deemed fit. But by then elections were drawing near. By 2003 that we thought I would now take charge, we were rigged out. I never starved Sketch of funds. I made my contributions. The only thing I did not do was to stick out my neck as the only professional journalist among the governors. And it was not a new issue that governors went into conflict over Sketch. It happened during the time of the Unity Party of Nigeria of Chief Obafemi Awolowo then. But, then as the MD, I was able to manage it. How do you feel about the Sketch newspaper now? I feel terrible. How can I have a baby and say I don’t know where the baby is. The issue of Sketch to me is my own Chibok. It is a nightmare to me because Sketch is my baby. I revived Sketch and put in everything I had into it. It is a sad story. The saying in some quarters is that you thrive in crisis and that the crisis in the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State is not a surprise. A successful life is full of ups and downs; the top of the mountain and the valley. Ebenezer Obey summarises it that it can’t be sunny all the time, there will be cloud. No matter how beautiful your life is, there will be time for sorrow. Life is dynamic. A successful man must go through fire; he must go through crises; through valleys and hills. Who are the three musketeers? One of us, Peter Ajayi is dead. The other person is Felix Adenaike. Chief ObafemiAwolowo named us three musketeers: journalists who are friends and yet rivals. There was a time when we were in control of the major newspapers in the country. I was the MD of Daily Times, Peter was the MD of Sketch and Felix was the Editor-in-Chief of Tribune. That was when they started calling us the Western Mafia of the media. What is your view on the future of journalism in Nigeria? Journalism all over the world will not die. Like someone says, the only profession that will be in heaven is journalism. In heaven, there will be no crime; so no lawyers and no judges, there would be no illnesses death and so no doctor. But there would be information dissemination. Hence, there would be journalists. Journalism will be forever. How do you feel about celebrating 50 years in journalism? I am happy to see the development, the innovation, and the courage of the media in Nigeria. They are still fighting for freedom of expression. Nigerian newspapers are still patriotic and vibrant and we stand shoulder high with any country even advanced countries in terms of producing the best medium of information. I am very proud of the profession How free is the press in Nigeria? The struggle is still on. Imagine soldiers seizing newspapers? That is part of the containment of the press and media houses to run their business legitimately. It is a continuous war. We are still fighting for freedom. It can never be Eldorado at any given time. The struggle for information will be continuous. Even at England now, attempts are being made to contain press freedom. You have been a journalist, administrator, politician and governor. Which did you enjoy the most? The one that I loved most, enjoyed most and still enjoy is being a reporter. It is still in my blood and I still nose around for news. I read the internet hourly. I have a modem and I also have internet services on my phone. Information is very key to me. I love being a reporter. I still want to be a reporter. The best of my life was when I was a reporter and not as an editor or MD. And even as the MD of a newspaper, I was still reporting. That was when I reported the capture of Dimka. I was in Enugu and I covered it. When Shugaba was deported to Chad, I reported it even as the MD of a newspaper. When last did you write a story? (Laughs) Everyday my younger colleagues in journalism still call me for information or to confirm information. I still give them tips. Though I don’t get paid, I still report. (laughter again) . Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:38:43 +0000
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