Undoubtedly and undebatably too, Dr. Reuben Abati is one of Nigeria’s most respected and regarded columnists and essayists.
Born on November 7, 1965, the highly cerebral newspaper columnist and television anchor served as Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan between 2011 and 2015.
A first class graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar, he bagged his Ph.D, also in Theatre Arts, while still in his 20’s, from the University of Ibadan.
Writing for the Nigerian press since 1985, his career soared as chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers. Now a regular face on Arise Television, and an unmistakable voice on City FM, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE got him to share some of his writing secrets on Wednesday, April 28, 2021.
Please, come with us…
What specifically got you interested in writing?
As a young person, in secondary school, I was a Literature student and once you study Literature in secondary school, you will also want to write. Also, as young people, the reading culture in Nigeria was still very good at that time and my generation read a lot of novels. This was in the days of James Hadley Chase novels; the whole of that detective novels, comics, etc were very cheap then. You could read comic magazines and somehow, naturally, when you read a lot of literature and you have materials around you, you also want to write. As secondary school students, you could read Newsweek, Time magazine, The Economist magazine because those things were readily available. I mean, growing up, there were libraries, you will be surprised, in this country. There were community libraries, there were local government libraries, there was the newspaper readers association. Every morning, as a young person, you could go to a newspaper stand and just stay there and read newspapers, and going to that free newspapers’ association at the stands; you discuss Nigeria, people, sports, etc.
There was interest in ideas, in knowledge. And of course, naturally, after reading so many books, you will also want to try your hands at it. But in any case, you know that my original discipline was in the humanities. So, I went into the humanities and of course, from 100 level to Ph.D level, I got a heavy dose of training in literature, in criticism, in theory, in philosophy and that’s where I took an interest in writing and I’ve been doing it almost every day for as long as I can remember.
What was the title of the first story ever that you wrote?
Ah! I doubt if I can remember my first story, but I know that as an undergraduate, there was this magazine called Akata and I used to write essays for them. And of course, as an undergraduate, I started writing letters to the editor, opinion articles in The Chronicles in those days in Calabar. That was the closest newspaper and the dominant newspaper in Calabar at that time, in the old Cross River State. And then when I went to UNIBEN, I continued writing. I was a graduate assistant, then NYSC (National Youth Service Corps).
So, there was The Observer in Benin at that time, and as a youth corper, I wrote a lot of pieces for The Observer. Later, The Tide. There was also one newspaper in Kaduna called The Democrat and then of course, from there I never looked back. At a time I was a book reviewer every week for Sketch; Sketch newspaper. From Sketch, I also became a reviewer for Nigerian Tribune and then of course I started writing opinion for The Guardian newspaper. At that time, my articles were published on the average maybe about three times in a month. I contributed opinion, wrote essays, extended essays for The Guardian literary series, which was then very popular at the time and then of course, along the line I started writing romance stories for Hints magazine. I was a contributing editor with Hints magazine. Also Channelle magazine and later on Hearts magazine and I had great fun writing romance stories. Of course, all of that, in addition to other forms of writing – more serious essays, academic writings and all of that.
To write well, what must one do?
To write well, first, you must have the discipline to sit down. I tell people that anybody who wants to write must enjoy his or her own company, because it’s a work that requires a lot of solitude. You must be able to sit down. Be on your own, enjoy your own company so that you can have your ‘me alone time’ so that you can think and reflect and put ideas on paper. Second is that anybody who wants to write well should also be very well read, very well informed, because I always tell people; I say every time you put pen to paper or you try to write something in front of your laptop, you are taking an examination, because whatever topic you are writing on, there are thousands of people out there who are far more knowledgeable than you are in that particular subject and who can also write. So, you have to put in the effort. It’s a lot of hard work and you have to have respect for who you are writing and to understand that yes, even if there is someone out there who is more knowledgeable in that subject, at least they will see that you made the effort to present your argument and to do so in a very well informed manner. Never take your reader for granted and then of course, more importantly, after you finish one, it’s gone. Then the next one. There’s nothing like an easy essay. But if you edit and edit and edit, it will surely become better. Because the more you edit, the more the copy improves. I always tell people, give your copy to someone to read. Till tomorrow, I won’t tell myself, oh, this thing is perfect. When I was at The Guardian, it could be my PA (personal assistant) that I will give it to, it could be the secretary, it could be somebody around to just help me look at it. The person may spot something that you may not have seen and in fact sometimes, from the person’s reaction, you can have better ideas about how to present the material. So, I don’t think there’s any copy I have ever written that I did not seek maybe a second opinion or a third opinion and that person doesn’t have to be a Ph.D. Just anybody at all! It’s a way of testing the material and trying to see whether there are certain angles that can come in or be cut off. Above all, every writer must be humble. Humility counts, because nobody knows it all.
To have a taste of success as a writer, what must one do?
I don’t know how to define success as a writer, because if you look at it, even the writers you see as successful may not be. Let me give you the example of a man like Prof. Wole Soyinka. Definitely that’s one clear example. This is one writer who is world renowned and who’s been there like forever. But at the same time you will see that at 86, Prof. Wole Soyinka is still working hard. He’s still writing. If he’s not writing an essay, he’s working on a book or a poem at 86! I tell people that my generation is not doing enough.
Perhaps we are too lazy and we need to do a lot more. Look at Prof. J. P. Clark, in his 80’s he was still writing, he was still publishing. Take the Newswatch quartet in journalism, Mr. Ray Ekpu, he’s still writing till tomorrow. Mr. Dan Agbese is still writing till tomorrow. Mr. Yakubu Mohammed is still writing till tomorrow. So, it’s an art; that kind of art which we just have to keep oiling because you never know when that beautiful essay will come or when you will write something that will make impact.
So, I think it’s the hard work, it’s the dedication. Who was it that said it again? Was it Bernard Shaw who said no writer who is serious-minded should write to win prizes because when you win prizes… I hear people say prize-winning author and all of that. Well, the prizes don’t really matter. What matters more is the effort and the fact that you enjoy doing it.
I think I get a lot of fun writing. When I finish it, I read it again and again and again and I say we’ll try it again tomorrow. So, it’s a daily grind.
What is the commonest mistake that most writers make?
I think maybe complacency, procrastination, because you know, like I said, it’s a very lonely enterprise and it’s not really that easy to just sit down and be stringing sentences together. But it helps when there are deadlines. I can be lazy too sometimes. But I think in journalism we have that pressure of the deadline because you know that you have a page to fill, you have a column to write and your readers are expecting that space to be filled, the editor is expecting you to submit your copy.
So, that sort of compels you. But I guess many, if there is no deadline, they probably will be playing around, they will be procrastinating and they will explain it away as writer’s block and I tell people, most journalists do not have the luxury of writer’s block. We just have to sit down and put pen to paper.
What are the necessary ingredients needed to write a good story?
You must have something to say, to start with. You must have an idea, you must have a plot in your head. Secondly, it must be delivered in a very good language, because the people you are writing for, they don’t expect all kinds of jargons, so you have to pay close attention. Sometimes if there is a spelling error in an essay or in any piece of writing, you will be surprised how people will call and say oh, you did this, you had spelling error there; didn’t somebody help you look at it? And that’s what I mean about paying close attention, and not just your beauty of the language, but also to make sure that the copy is clean and it’s delivered in an informed manner, because you know, opinion is cheap. We all have opinions. If you go to the newspaper stands, everybody there is a commentator. But I tell people, sometimes when people are trying to engage me, this opinion formulation or discussion of national, international issues, that’s my work, that’s what I do on a daily basis. So, I do not have time for beer parlour gossips or chatting all over the place. I will rather take my pen and put it down. So, it’s all about discipline majorly.
What excites you most about being a writer?
The opportunity to engage people and the access that I have to various platforms. I find that very exciting and of course, like every human being, when you write a piece and it resonates with your readers, you are excited about it. I read other people too and I enjoy them and for me, it’s a continuous learning process. The fact that I can take on any topic, do my research, sit down and think and then package it together and when I’m not in front of the laptop, I’m probably talking on radio or talking on television. So, it’s the opportunity that I find exciting, to engage people, and to discuss a broad range of issues and to continue to learn virtually on a daily basis.
What do you dislike about being a writer?
What do I dislike about being a writer? (Laughing). That’s my life. I can’t say…. I mean, I can’t complain. If a man is a carpenter, he does his carpentry. A medical doctor will not be reluctant to go to the hospital, a lawyer will not be afraid to go to the courtroom to present his case. So, this is our line of business – to write and talk. So, it’s not something I dislike. I just cited examples of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. J. P. Clark, Mr. Ray Ekpu, Mr. Dan Agbese, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed. These are people who are in their 80s, in their 70s and they are still writing! And it’s a thing of joy to read them all the time and I just say well, me, I have not even started. If an 86-year-old man is still working so hard, I just must apply myself a little bit more.
What is the greatest thing that being a writer has done for you?
I don’t know what word to use… Should I say fame? Or should I say notoriety? You get to rub minds with a lot of people. Some people will read what you have written, they will do rejoinders. In those days when this was a different country, on the pages of The Guardian, as young boys, sometimes we could have a debate. Somebody will write an article and it could attract about 15 rejoinders. We all knew ourselves in those days – young men who wanted to contribute to public debate. But that culture of debate, I don’t get to see it a lot these days. Maybe perhaps because of Twitter and Instagram, all these 140-word intellectualism that people do on Twitter, and it’s very easy to just go on Twitter and abuse people rather than to sit down and do very constructive analysis. I hope that the day will come again in this country when there will be greater emphasis on ideas rather than this convenience that the electronic media offers – the social media. Everybody is now a superstar. You don’t have to write more than 140 words and you have reached the whole world. But writing an essay requires a lot more.
What would you have wanted writing to do for you that it hasn’t done yet?
I haven’t been able to put a pen to paper around my writings. There are many friends who are on my neck. Odia Ofeimun the other day even brought out four titles of books that I should have pushed out or that I have not done and then every time he accuses me of being too lazy and that I should sit down and do serious work. So, some day, very soon, I will like to put any of these materials together in a more permanent form. Only last week, one gentleman was calling me, he said he was in Rwanda and that some people were asking, that they were looking for my materials and that he also went to another country, they were saying why is Reuben Abati’s writings scattered all over the place?
So, that is something I will like to do – put a fence round these materials properly. Another person who has been on my case is Prof. Hope Eghagha of the University of Lagos. But we will get back to it very soon. There is time, I hope.
What makes a good columnist?
To write a good column, one, you need language; two, there must be some kind of originality, authenticity to what you are saying. Then of course, you must have the courage to say what you want to say. I’ve written all kinds of columns. I tell people sometimes that when we were in Hints magazine and we were doing romance journalism, I used to write, and many people did not know this, a column on a brothel! I didn’t want anybody to know that I was the one. But you see, every week I will just deliver the column. And I used to have fun writing it. So, language, creativity and if you look at what I do, I created my style. Sometimes I use dialogue in trying to get the message across. Sometimes I do narratives. I used to do narratives a lot. In those days, those early days when I used to fly Molue from Alakuko to Isolo, I used to see a lot inside the Molue or in trying to catch the Molue. You know, the Molue, you can’t just jump into it o! It has it’s own method, and even when you want to disembark from it, you must know how you do it otherwise you will land on the floor.
So, in those days, when we were passing through that, I used to write a lot of pieces on Molue until I bought my first car and after riding the car for a few weeks, the next time I went into the Molue, I couldn’t fit in any more. But I did a lot of creative pieces just writing about the Molue and then of course, the political commentaries, the essays and book reviews. I’ve done a lot of that. I’m just having fun, I’m enjoying myself. I think that’s what’s important. When work is fun, when work is like play, if you get rewarded for it in the process, very fine and very good.
Of all the columns you have written, which is the most memorable and why?
Ah! I can’t say this is the most memorable. In fact, I’ve written some very interesting pieces. But I know that when I apply humour, because I used to adopt that technique also, when you deliver a serious message in an exciting manner and also when the humour cuts across and the reader is able to get it, they will call and say oh, I was laughing throughout that article. In any case, once they get the message, I’m happy. The more serious essays, most times it could be a bit tensed, but I prefer it when I’m able to communicate easily.
Who are the other columnists that you also read?
A long list! I read virtually everybody. Because you know, in this our job, you also have to read others to know what they are saying, to know what is going on. On a daily basis, I go through all the opinion pieces that I can lay my hands on. I read The Guardian’s op-ed pages; you know I was in charge of those pages for years, for decades. I don’t miss the back page of ThisDay and I also have columnists in Tribune (Nigerian) that I read. In virtually every paper! In Leadership, in The Sun, because it’s a community. We all know each other. So, they read you, you read them, you have fun, you call each other and say I read that your piece. Louis Odion, I just finished reading you. Oh, Segun Adeniyi, I just read your piece. Bob Dee (Dele Momodu), I’ve read your piece today o. So, it’s a community. Apart from the fact that you get a chance to learn from other people and to also learn from the style that they adopt. I read everybody, I read everyone.
So, of all these people you have mentioned, who is your favourite?
Ah! That’s difficult to say because each person brings to the table a different kind of style, a different kind of flavour and ideas. It’s difficult to say this is my favourite, because they are so many. I read all of them. I read everybody. And I’m sure they read me too – just to say oh, what is he up to? What is this person up to this week? The same way I read them too and I call them, send them text messages and we laugh, we have fun.
What stands Dr. Reuben Abati out as a columnist?
That’s not for me to say o! I don’t want to appear like I’m praising myself. But I’ve been in this business for quite a while. I’ve been doing this thing for how many years now? No, I can’t describe myself! I can’t say that! But you can be sure that every week I keep at it. Once I finish one column I’ve moved on. The next one is the next one. I can’t say, I can’t say… That’s for people to judge.
How often do you read new books and what book are you currently reading?
I’m always reading books. As I’m sitting here, there’s a book here, in front of me, which I just finished the other weekend or so – Larger Than His Frame, Vol. 2, Further critical studies and reflections on Olu Obafemi, edited by Prof. Duro Oni and Prof. Sunday Enesi Okonedo. I read all kinds of books, but this one is in Dramatogy. So, it depends on what comes to my table and then of course people ask me to review books. So, I get regular supply of new books and I read that virtually on a weekly basis.
As a voracious reader, which of the books that you have read left the most indelible mark and why? Just one…
Hmmm! You see, when we were in school, there was this book we were reading for theory, and that’s Dramatic Literature – Theory and Criticism. That was the title of the book at that time. There was a lot of philosophy in it, from the Greek to the Grotesque and the book was like a bible to many of us who did Dramatic Literature, Dramatic Theory and Dramatic Criticism, and for many years when you want to read Philosophy and all of that, the book comes handy. And anybody who ever studied Drama will tell you how philosophical that book is and I find it as a book that I keep going back to again and again because there’s a whole range of knowledge within the humanities and of course, from aesthetics to forms, literature, everything! But there will be many of such books any way.
Between print and being on television, which one do you prefer?
They are two different platforms. You know, in the print, you are there, you are writing, you are editing, you have space to fill. But I find television, the form is slightly different, and broadcasters, I think, are a bit more relaxed than people in print journalism. The kind of dictatorship of the editor that you find in the print media for example, you don’t quite find that dictatorship in broadcasting. Broadcasters are more relaxed, they are more friendly, in terms of their work ethics. But you know how it is – every newsroom has that commander in chief, who takes the final decision. But in television, there is a greater freedom, there is even more freedom on radio and you just have to adjust. But all of these platforms have their value and they are important and it’s not a question of my preferring one to the other. I’ve done print my entire life, then I got involved in television. But I tell people that given my background, all of this is not strange. You will find many people who did Theatre Arts who are also into broadcasting, PR, advertising. That was the nature of our original training and in fact our department in Calabar. Shortly after we graduated, they changed it to Theatre and Media Studies. So, it was what we did in school – sociology, mass comm, television production, radio production and all of that. So, it’s not as if I’ve made any kind of shift. I’m still within the scope of my training and background.
How does one develop language as a tool for writing?
Language is the main tool that we use. It’s like a carpenter making use of his own tools or a doctor making use of his stethoscope. We engage and we serve people with language and I think, well, how to develop it? I think by reading voraciously, by reading other writers and then you see how they do it and then you try to learn and you try to develop your own style, your own voice too. But it’s not easy. I always like to cite this example. As a young person trying to write for the Nigerian newspapers, it used to pain me a lot if I wrote a copy and I will be checking the newspaper and it will not be published and I will be wondering, what is it that is not good with this my copy? But I kept at it. I wasn’t discouraged until I got to a point whereby anything I wrote would automatically be published. So, that built my confidence and the more confident you become, the more you try to work harder at your craft, before you begin to experiment with all kinds of methods.
But of course, reading is very important. You have to read, and you must also have the discipline to sit down. I know a lot of people who write very well, but they are not as productive, because they probably don’t have that enough discipline to sit down and write. Some people will tell me, oh, to write an article, they spend like four, five days on it and I will ask them, if you spend five days to do 1,500 words, how many essays will you be able to write in a year? I don’t have that luxury. I just sit down and stick with it and suffer and punish myself until it is done. But I guess we are different.
What puts you off in a story?
Bad writing, of course! Bad writing… Sometimes when I’m reading any material, you can be sure I will have either a red pen or a black pen and if I see any kind of inelegance, inelegant construction, I’m likely to take my pen and be rewriting it. But I guess that comes from having worked as editor for more than 20 years – rewriting other people’s copy, giving titles to materials. So, that’s almost like a habit. It’s not snobbery. Of course, if I see a very poor construction, I’m likely to spot because that was my job for more than 20 years.
What keeps you glued to a story?
If it is interesting, if the ideas are useful, enlightening, yes, I will sit down with it and keep going and particularly if it is well written, and I see nice turn of phrases; sometimes I will say ah! Let me memorize this, I’m going to steal it from this author. Sometimes some of my friends, some of our colleagues, they will write something, I may see a good turn of phrase there, I could call the person and say whaooh! I like that expression, I hope you don’t mind if I steal it and use it someday. We learn from each other every day.
How is life as a former presidential spokesman?
Life goes on! You know some of my friends who went to work in Abuja, and I’m not criticizing them; once they work in Abuja for a few years, they stay permanently in Abuja. The first thing I told myself is, look, I went to Abuja on a national assignment, once that assignment is done, I will go back to what I was doing before. I don’t want to be hanging around the corridors of power, because when lawyers go into government, they come out, they return to the courtroom. They just go back to what they were doing before they left to go and work in government. If medical doctors take political appointments, they return to the hospital to continue with their career. University professors, they go to the states or federal as ministers, or they take up some other commitments, maybe international, they return to the classrooms and their professions. So, for me, what I’ve done is not different.
Okay, we’ve done presidential spokesman job, I’ve had some knowledge, some experience within the public sector and from academia. So, I just returned to what I do ordinarily, which is journalism. I’m back with my writings. I’ve been writing since I returned from Abuja and I am also back on television. Before I went to Abuja, you know we were doing Patito’s Gang, with Prof. Pat Utomi. So, coming back to television is not a problem. I think it is important for people to realize that yes, you can go into government, you can go into politics, but politics should not be a job. You must have a second address. There must be something that you do, and the people that I respect are persons who had been in government and who have moved on, to continue to contribute to society in a constructive manner. But of course, I’ve seen people who say well, they are politicians for life and that the reason they are there is to be able to get political appointments and I say well, I don’t know, I don’t understand why hanging around the corridors of power would be a life-time job. But as I said, people make their own choices.
What didn’t you know about government and governance that you only got to discover after you went to serve as a presidential spokesman?
You know there are two different sides of a street – when you are out here, you probably may not know how they operate inside government. So, what I will say is that when you go into government, you are better informed about the processes of government and in fact after I left; I left government in 2015. There were things I had learnt and then told myself that if I go back to government some other day in the future, I already have an idea of how the system functions and it got to a point when I used to tell people that look, I can run Nigeria, based on what I know and what I have observed. So, it helps. I always tell people, if you have the opportunity to go to the other side of the street, to work in government, maybe you should seize the opportunity, as long as you don’t turn it into an obsession. So, I think it was a learning opportunity for me and that’s why after government there are certain things people will say and I could offer a different perspective, based on what I’ve seen and based on the fact that look, I know people that I worked with in government, that are still in government. Just one phone call, I can get whatever clarification that I need. I guess as we grow older, we build new knowledge, we acquire new perspectives. So, I’m no longer that angry young man that started a career in those days. I have other perspectives now about how the society is organized.
What was the greatest lesson you learnt from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan whom you worked for?
The first thing is his humility. President Jonathan is a very humble person. I mean, not too many persons would even relinquish power or to serve at the highest level and would have that level of humility. You only need to relate with him. People think that he’s soft; he’s not soft! He’s very assertive and he can put his feet down, but he will not do it in a dictatorial manner and he’s somebody who also listens. He has capacity to listen to other people. Those days if went anywhere and he went to make a presentation somewhere or there is a meeting and we go back to the residence with him, he will ask everybody – security men, some of the aides to say okay, this event that we did, what do you think? I mean, he was our boss, the President of Nigeria! And he will tell you, look, if you see me making any mistake, please feel free to tell me because if we fail, we fail together. And he will always say we are in this together. Now, there were some occasions when you could have issues with people, he will call you aside and say look, please don’t quarrel with people, let us all just work together and focus on the assignment. I think that’s a very impressive side of him. But a lot of people misinterpreted that to mean softness. If you’ve worked closely with him, you will know that he’s man who has the strength of his own convictions. If he has a view he will tell you, but he will not dictate to you or treat you shabbily. And of course, after a while we all studied him very well, we knew his habits. If he didn’t want to listen to you, he will start looking away. Otherwise he will pay close attention to you. And then you will know that oh, oga has dismissed me. So, you will just quietly go away. It was great working with him.
Your time in government, how will you sum it up?
It was like going to university. If the four years was for a research programme or so, I probably would have walked away with another Ph.D and then the experience that I gained, the opportunity that I had, that was a life time experience and I’ve made new friends and we’ve remained in touch and I’m sure that we will remain in touch for life. And of course, the knowledge that one gained from there is something that will remain of great value forever. In other words, I have no regrets going to work in government.
What would you describe as your greatest achievement in that position?
Again, I don’t like to assess myself, but let me put it like this – no two presidents are the same, no two presidential systems are the same. So, the circumstances depend on individual experience, and that’s why I said I don’t like to assess myself. But I think we did what we could do. When we left government, that is the Jonathan administration and all of us who worked in that administration up till that moment, many people were criticizing us. I will go to the airport, maybe to come to Lagos, or to go to Abuja, you could see the look on people’s faces; like oh, these are those people. But all of that has changed now. Overtime people now say you people tried, you people did well. Today President Jonathan is practically a hero. When he goes anywhere he receives a standing ovation. But that was not the situation shortly after we left government. So, I think that time offers people new ways of looking at a situation. But I wouldn’t want to praise myself. Whatever we did at that time in terms of managing the communication process, I’m sure opinion will be divided about it, but at least we did what we could and it was a great opportunity to make some contributions.
You later ran as a deputy governorship candidate in Ogun State. How would you sum up that experience? And why exactly did you take that political plunge with Buruji Kashamu?
Again, I may be in the private sector, but I would never discourage anybody from going into the public sector or participating in the government process in any way whatsoever. One of the problems we’ve had with politics and public service in this country is that we got to a point whereby politics and public service became some kind of a stench-ful engagement. People will tell you, oh, politics is too dirty, if you go into it you will get tainted or some people will say no, no, no, I can never go near government, let me just stay in my house, I want my peace. Well, the danger in that is that when you look around, there’s a crisis in the leadership recruitment process in Nigeria. You find people who are not capable, division 3 persons, but because they can take the risk, because they have the courage, they can take the punch, they go into it and then you have a situation whereby at many levels, you just have incompetent people, very ignorant people in very important positions and they determine your fate and my fate and the future of our children. So, if you think you have something to contribute, don’t sit at home. Nobody is going to come and invite you in your house to come and show interest in governance or politics. You have to be involved.
So, I think that we have reached a stage in Nigeria where we cannot afford to be bystanders in the management of our country and someone like me, yes, if I have the opportunity, if I have the time, yes, I will go into the political arena or go into public service. When I ran as a deputy governor, I got the opportunity to see how this society is organized from another angle and I gained knowledge about the state. You know, you can be going to your hometown and coming out, you may not know what is going on there unless you join them. And I had a front-row opportunity to see how politics in Nigeria is organized and to understand our people much better and then of course to understand the challenges faced at that local level. So, I’ve been in the federal government, I’ve also seen what goes on at the local level. We may not have won, but there will be another opportunity another day and I will be ready to get involved.
Back to writing. You are one of Nigeria’s most-read columnists. How does that make you feel?
Do you know how many columnists are out there? They are so many. You know I once reviewed a book, Mr. Pini Jason’s book, now of blessed memory. And I was complaining about what I described as “opinionities.” So many people hold opinions in Nigeria and they push their opinions vigorously. So, we have columnists all over the place, but I just do my own bit, in my own space and the platform that I’m priviledged to access. So, I don’t know, I really don’t know. What we must encourage of course is the democracy of opinions, the right of people to express themselves. But writing a column is an art. So, it’s not enough to just express an opinion, it’s for you to be able to raise engagement to the level of an art and that’s what I guess makes a difference between people who just write opinions and people who actually take the work seriously as an art. But there are opportunities for growth. People grow if they apply themselves.
Before you went into government, you were the chairman of The Guardian Editorial Board. What do you miss most about that role and the years you occupied that position?
You know that The Guardian is part of my life. That was where I grew up and I was very lucky I worked with some of the best people in journalism in the last, say, three decades in Nigeria and we were lucky we had a publisher who I believe was a newspaper man in the true sense of it – Mr. Alex Ibru, now of blessed memory. So, it was a very great work environment for me, and as chairman, Editorial Board, yes I enjoyed the fact that The Guardian editorial board is different. It was patterned after The New York Times editorial board and what you find on that editorial board is a mixture of academia, a lot of scholarship, journalism, experience, retired public officials and policy experts. So, any meeting of that editorial board was like having a department seminar in the university. The level of ideation that newspaper maintained for years was not something you will find anywhere else. I mean, you can’t just say you are expressing an opinion on the pages of The Guardian and you just do it in a casual manner. No! That would not be allowed, and part of our job was to be custodians of style and company ideology. Mr. Ibru used to talk about the ideology of the newspaper and we used to have seminars also with him. So, the level of seriousness there is not something that anybody jokes with. But of course, I went to Abuja, I came back and I returned to the same Guardian, writing my two columns. I used to write a Sunday column and a Friday column, but then you know life… Things happen and we move on; many chapters… But of course, I’m a Guardian man! You can be sure of that. Because that was what started it…
As a Guardian man, how did your column now move from The Guardian and now berthed in ThisDay?
That’s a story for another day! That’s a story for another day, Azuh. But I’m a member of The Guardian family without a doubt, because that was where I learnt the ropes of the business and as I said, I remain eternally grateful for the opportunity.
