Mr. Femi Adesina, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, The Sun Publishing Limited, is a good man. And as would be expected, good things have been happening to him. Easy going and ever supportive, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors is one of the best hands I have encountered as far as journalism is concerned in Nigeria. A thorough professional and one of those that many still look up to and truly respect, YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, spent the evening of Sunday, January 19, 2014 with him. This was at his beautiful home inside Alfred Garden Estate, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. The result of that encounter is what you have here…
What has changed in The Sun Publishing Limited since you took over as the MD?
It’s still too soon, because yesterday made it a month that I took over as the MD. So, if I begin to then dismantle what I met on ground when I was the DMD in the administration that just ended, it would mean that I was not really part of that team. But I was part and parcel of the team. And naturally, some new things will come. So, we are taking our time. But definitely, there are going to be new things…
Would you like to share some of these new things with us?
Fortunately, yesterday, we ended a retreat for the staff and major in what we did was to chart a new strategic direction for the paper and this is what we decided to do – You know The Sun started as a full tabloid newspaper in 2003 and we ran that till about 2008 or there about? And then we changed direction slightly. We took on a harder note (Laughs). A number of people felt: why are you vacating a niche where you are the market leader? Why are you trying to harden this paper and turn it into another thing? So, 5,6 years after that experiment, we will change direction slightly again; we will do more of human interest reporting again while we won’t return to where we were 10 years ago. We will do more of human interest reporting now, so that we are going to be a good blend. We will have something for everybody.
At the end of your tenure, what would you like the people you would be leaving behind to say about you?
I will like them to say he has left his footprints in the sands of time in this company. I will like them to always refer to Femi Adesina’s tenure in The Sun with fondness; I will like them to say it’s a milestone – that under him as Editor, the paper went this high (Demonstrates it) and then under him as MD/Editor-in-Chief, it even went a lot higher. That’s what I will like to achieve.
You are wearing two demanding caps now as the MD/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors. How do you intend to juggle both?
I think both really complement each other – both positions. Although it then means they will see less of me at home. Because now, I’m so busy. Even on my feet, I am doing things and thinking about things to do and all that. But I think the two complement each other. Being MD/Editor-in-Chief adds some value to being President of the Guild because it means that there’s more respectability for that position; they will know that it’s not just anybody that is occupying this position, but somebody that in his own company, he’s at the very top.
So far and in this short while, what would you describe as your greatest achievement as the NGE President?
Well, it will be one year in March that I became President and I promised our colleagues that we will not use the Guild to merchandise; I promised them that the dignity of the Guild will be maintained and I promised them that we will defend press freedom. Whenever the opportunity came to defend press freedom, we had risen to the challenge and I believe that nobody can accuse us of having used the Guild to personal advantage. So, for me, it gives me a sense of satisfaction. Nobody can accuse me that the Guild is being used to personal advantage. Rather it’s being used for the betterment of the association and I believe that in a couple of weeks, what can then be considered as the biggest advantage will come, because we are planning to do a fund raising activity which will lead to the building of our secretariat. It was part of my campaign promise that we were going to build a secretariat for the Guild. 52 years down the line, the Guild does not have a secretariat of its own. But in a couple of months, you will see activity in that direction.
What makes a good journalist?
Yeah! A good journalist – 1. – must know news, because the profession is about news. Some people, news pass under their nose, and they don’t know it. A good journalist must be able to ferret out news; not just recognize it when it passes, but ferret it out, go after it and dig it out, because there are several definitions of news. Some people will define news as what somebody else wants to hide. So, if you go by that definition, a good journalist must know how to ferret out news and of course, a good journalist must have language power. If you have the news and you can’t put it together, then it’s a draw back on you as a journalist. A good journalist must have language power, he must be able to put together the news that he has seen and wants to pass across to the reading public. And then of course, a good journalist must have contacts. It’s about contacts. News sources. If you don’t have sources, then you can’t be a very good journalist. If anything happens, you must know who you can call at short notice and who will give it to you; if he doesn’t talk on record, he will talk to you off record. It’s very important that a good journalist has sources. A good journalist must be a good mixer, have friends everywhere. You must learn to make friends; you must expand the scope of your contacts. If you don’t expand the scope of your contacts, you will be limited as a journalist.
What makes a good editor?
A good editor must be a combination of many things. 1. – he must be a good reporter; 2. – he must be a good sub-editor; 3. – he must be a good proof reader. All the different units and departments of journalism, he must know a little bit about everything. He must be a good designer, because if you are an editor and you can’t design a paper; whatever they design for you goes out. No! You must have an idea of what a good design is. So, every department of journalism. You must know a little bit of pre-press, you must know a little bit about the press itself; how things function. That, I think, is the hallmark of a good editor – know a little bit about everything. And then you must be a leader of men, because you have your reporters and other staff working with you; you must be like a General leading troops into war. So, you must be able to manage men and resources and then of course, a good editor must know how to deploy his troops. He’s like a coach that has a 22-man team, but you take somebody whose natural turf is left full back and go to play him at outside right. That person will not perform, because you have fielded him wrongly. So, a good editor must know how to field his men; you must know all your men, know who to send on what assignment, know how to deploy your men to get the best out of them. If anything breaks, you must know the one that you will send after that thing that has just broken. A good editor must know his men, know his team, know who can deliver what and of course, a good editor, I think, must know how to bring good scripts out of poorly written ones. Because not all your reporters will be able to write well. Some can bring the news, they can’t write it. A good editor will know how to turn a poorly-written script into something that is crisp and readable for the public.
What sells a paper?
The thing that sells a paper is news, and that takes us back to the definition of news. What is news? For me, news is something exciting, something interesting, something new, something that people will hear and say whaooh! That’s news. So, unless you are doing a journal; if you are doing a journal, you don’t need news, you just need issues. But if you are a newspaper editor, then news is what sells and news must be new, it must be fresh, it must be exciting, it must be interesting.
What is the greatest mistake that any journalist can make?
The greatest mistake any journalist can make is to be beaten at his game. For instance, let’s start with an editor – you wake up and suddenly there’s a major news story and you are out of it. You have been beaten flatly. I remember the day Yar’Adua was rolled back to this country. You know he came in the dead of night. The next day, one paper didn’t carry it. I can imagine how the editor will feel; he was thoroughly beaten and a good journalist does not like to be beaten. If something happens on the beat you cover and you miss it; it is a bad day for that journalist. So, I think the greatest mistake a journalist can make is to be beaten at his own game. He’s not there when something major breaks on his turf, on his beat.
What is the best way to avoid litigations in journalism?
You must know libel, and how do you know libel? Through training. Journalists must know what is libel. Unfortunately, we don’t see too much of training in the profession because most media houses are struggling to survive. But I think good media houses must send their people for continuous training. There are always opportunities to get trained and re-trained. In The Sun, we take training serious. Every year, we have a budget for training because we believe that our people must continuously be trained. And one of the trainings we don’t joke with is that of libel. I told you we just finished a retreat yesterday. We brought a very senior lawyer to talk to us on libel, how to navigate the libel minefield without being blown to pieces. So, it’s very important that journalists know what is libel, what is defamation. They must know it. If they don’t know it, that publication will fold up eventually because there will be too many cases against it.
What do you like most about being a journalist?
The privilege to know something before other people know. For instance, let me go back to the day Yar’Adua was brought to the country. I had just reached home and a top General, retired, called me. He said the plane bearing President Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia just took off now. It’s expected to land in Nigeria at so, so time. Of course, immediately, I called the Daily Editor. He too was at his gate (Laughs) when I said, you know what? Yar’Adua is airborne. Of course, he turned back immediately and went to the office and so, we were able to process that news. One of the excitements of the profession is knowing things ahead; before the general public knows it, you have known. Because as a journalist, you must be on top of news, you must be on top of developments round the world.
What don’t you like about being a journalist?
I have not seen; I have not seen. Except that well, you can ask my wife that one. What she will tell you is that, that man is hardly at home (Laughing). My family, the Adesina family, for instance. There are seven of us. When our parents were alive, we liked congregating at home, particularly at festive seasons – Christmas, Easter. We love everybody to be around. Of course, I would have planned to be there too, and then something would happen that would keep me away from that family re-union. The family will tell you that this job takes too much of their time, so they don’t particularly like it.
What is the greatest thing that journalism has done for you?
Journalism has made me known and I think it’s a prophesy fulfilled. I remember that day in 1989 when I walked into Mr. Mike Awoyinfa’s office in Concord Press. I had written a piece. Then, I was working in Radio Lagos. I wrote a feature piece and took it to him. When he read it, he said who wrote this? I said I did. He said whaaooh! You are going to be famous (Laughs). If you write like this, you are going to be famous. He hired me, I began to work with him in Weekend Concord; some years later, I went to the daily paper as Features Editor, I became Deputy Editor, I became Editor of Concord before the place went down and when he was pioneering The Sun, along with Dimgba Igwe, his deputy, they sent for me again. I became the pioneer Editor of Daily Sun. I’ve won so many awards – I’ve been named Editor of the Year by the Nigerian Media Merit Awards; I’ve gone to courses in the country, outside the country. I have travelled and to the glory of God, I think I am also fairly well known too. Journalism has done a lot for me.
What has journalism not done for you?
That’s if I have too much expectations that had not been met – and which I don’t think I have. Today, I am Editor-in-Chief; you don’t go higher than that in journalism. Today, I am President, Nigerian Guild of Editors. What other position can I hold that is a professional position? So, I think journalism has done a lot for me and I’m quite happy and thankful.
What is the best way to attain success and sustain it in journalism?
Know what you want, where you are going, and stay on track. Depend on God to take you there.
What distinguishes Femi Adesina as a journalist?
I think from the feedback I have got, it’s the way I write; the feedback I got as a reporter in the field was that when people read what I wrote, they said oh, this guy writes well. Which I didn’t know myself. I remember that when I went to serve at the Lagos Television in 1986; that’s some 28 years ago now – my immediate boss that I was working with – Head of Current Affairs Unit – just gave me a news analysis to write and when I wrote it, he read it and said huu! You write very well. And I was just out of the university; I didn’t know. I just knew that I wanted to be a journalist. But he read it and said you write very well. And later, I went to work in the radio arm of the then Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation. I used to write what we called News Talk and all over the station, I was celebrated as a very good writer of News Talk. And wherever I have worked, those comments have always come that yes, he writes quite well and now that I write a weekly column in The Sun, those are also the feedbacks I get – You write very well. So, I think it’s a distinguishing factor and all the glory I give to God.
You’ve written hundreds of stories, if not thousands. Which of them would you describe as the most memorable and why?
Yes, I think I have done some really, really memorable stories, but I won’t forget the one I did at the University of Ibadan, when a man who was said to be a white garment prophet entered the den of the lion in that zoo. It was a Sunday. They said they had seen him round the zoo; he was going round with a cross and a Bible and all that. And before they knew it, he had climbed the fence leading into the lion’s den and jumped in. According to eye witnesses, when the lion first saw him, the lion ran away (Laughs). And then, the animal came back and the man was saying Jah, Jah, Jah and the lion went for his jugular and killed him. But after the lion killed him, it didn’t eat him before the guards sort of drove the lion away and shut the cage. Now, when that happened, newspapers carried it small the next day – a man went into the lion’s den and the lion ate him. Just 2 paragraphs, 3 paragraphs. I said whaaoh, this is a story that is bigger than a strip. So, I went to Ibadan. I got the details of the case, I got the man’s family, went there, talked to them and very fortuitously, when I went to interview the chief security officer of the institution, he told me they had the picture of the man, after the lion had killed him. So, I said really? Can you give me the pictures? And fortunately, I had a photographer with me who re-copied the pictures and we came back to Lagos. When we ran the story; ah! ‘Daniel Inside Lion’s Den’. It set the market on fire. Everybody wanted that edition. We sold it on Saturday, but by Monday people who couldn’t get it to buy came to the office – ‘We want that edition’. But it had sold out. And those were days when we did 500,000 copies in Concord. 500,000 copies sold out! So, that was a defining story in my career and so many other ones. There was also this interesting one – which eventually took me to court as a witness. 7Up was doing this promo. If you bought 7Up and you open the cork and there’s anything beneath it; picture of anything, you win that thing. Now, there were these two, I think, Polytechnic of Ibadan students. The boy was at a canteen eating, the girl came in, they were friends and the boy said okay, let me buy you 7Up and he bought a bottle for her. Immediately she started drinking, she then opened the cork and saw the picture of a car. That means she had won. And the argument now ensued. The boy said I bought the drink for you, so I own the car. The girl said no, you already bought it for me, the car is mine. It became a big argument. I then went into Ibadan, did the story, interviewed the boy, interviewed the girl and I remember that the headline was ‘Fight of the Year’. It was a big story. Eventually, the boy and the girl ended in court and the judge had to summon me to give testimony.
You’ve obviously interviewed dozens of influential and powerful people in your over two decades in this profession. Who is that person you would want to interview that is still eluding you?
Well, in Nigeria, I’ve interviewed so many people. But I think I will like to interview Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in my own way. I believe there are many things untold about that man. So, I will really like to sit him down and do a thorough interview. Many interviews have been done with him, but I hope that one day, I will be able to sit down with him and do the kind of interview that I have in mind.
One of the things that people complain about now is the invasion of the social media by quacks who are masquerading as journalists. As the NGE President, what are you doing about that? Also, what is your impression of the social media generally?
Yes, social media has its uses; positive and negative. Let’s start with the positive – There’s what is called the Arab Spring. Arab Spring could not have succeeded the way it did without the social media. You know it started in Tunisia, it went into Algeria, it went into Bharain, went into Libya; all round. Without the social media, the Arab Spring would not have succeeded. So, that shows you the positive use you can put the social media to. But then, the negative – Like Socrates said, every good thing has in itself the seed of its own destruction. Now, the negative side of the social media is that anybody can then become a journalist and put anything up; however fictitious it is. As long as you can set up a blog, you can begin to file reports. No training, no background, nothing! And you can defame anybody, you can libel anybody and get away with it. There’s one man – a very influential man, very wealthy. When I met him, he was a very unhappy man. What happened? He said on the social media, if you Google his name, the first thing that comes out is a negative story that somebody posted about him. It makes him very unhappy, and he was asking me: Is there a way he can remove that? But because it’s already on Google, inside their engine, there’s no way you can remove it. I just told him he has to find a way of granting a positive interview that they will also post so that whenever anybody Googles his name, it brings out both the bad and the good. So, that’s one of the negative sides of social media. I believe that in the Guild of Editors; well, they have a right to join us. But we have a screening committee that would screen them scrupulously. You have to have the requisite background, the requisite training, the requisite experience before you can join the Guild of Editors from the social media. It’s not just a fly by night person who sets up a blog and then he says he wants to join Nigerian Guild of Editors. No! No!! We won’t take such person. But I agree with you, it does need some clean up.
The talk now is that in the next 5 years, journalism will move online completely. Do you also agree with that?
It is not true; it is not true. I have attended conferences where that was an issue – World Editors Forum; the one we held in Cape Town; digital media and the threat it poses was an issue. Another one we held in Hamburg in Germany; it was an issue. Another one we held in Paris, France, it was the issue. But the conclusion, usually, at the end of those conferences, was that yes, online was a threat to the printed word, but the printed word will continue to survive. When television came, they had said that television was going to kill the printed word completely. When television came, it was really a threat, but the printed word is still there. Before television had come the gramophone. When gramophone came, they said ah, newspaper is dead. If you can hear everything on radio, why do you need to buy and read again? But the printed word survived those two eras. Now, we have the era of the internet. Yes, profit margin may reduce, yes, volume of sales may reduce, but the printed word will always be there.
Can you tell us about your family?
Like I told you, I got married 23 years ago. My wife is Nike; she used to be Nike Adesida, an Akure princess. Now she’s Nike Adesina. We have two children – my son, Tobi; he just qualified as a pilot from South Africa. Then, my daughter, Tosin. She’s in University of Ibadan; she’s a second year student. That’s my family.
Away from work, what do you do for relaxation?
You know I’m also a church person (Laughs). My colleague at work, Steve Nwosu, was saying just two weeks ago that they usually wonder how I do everything – I do journalism, I do church, I do home and I combine everything and when there’s a meeting, I’m prompt at that meeting. When I was an editor, my paper will go to bed early; that they always wonder how I do it. So, I think I have learnt to multi-task. I can do many things at the same time. But I think it’s a grace that God has given me.
What is the best way to remain scandal-free and maintain your reputation and integrity in this profession?
It’s to do the right thing all the time. There are certain things journalists should say no to. I’m not saying that people don’t offer me money. Yes, if I see that the person is worthy to give me money, I will take it. But if I see that the person is unworthy to give me money, I will refuse it. No matter who the person is. There are some monies that are unworthy to take. So, I think journalists should learn that. If you think that this is an unworthy money to take, please reject it. You will not die, you will survive. But I see that quite a large number of our people run after money. No! When you run after money, you will not be discriminatory, you take anything that comes and before you know it, scandal will dog your footsteps. Particularly in a position that I hold – President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. If you want to merchandise with that office, you can and you will make money in hundreds of millions within your tenure. But what kind of reputation will you then have? Anybody will hear your name and they will say cash and carry. No! It should not be; it should not be. I always tell people – in my 28 years of career, I have never opened my mouth to tell anybody to bring money and I don’t think I will ever do it. Bring money for your story! I have never done it and I don’t think I will do it. So, it’s very important that you are discriminatory in the gifts you even receive when you are offered.