I dedicate this reunion and home coming to ‘Mallam’ Musa who, by 2006, was a suya seller at a location along the popular Whethral Road, Owerri, the Imo State capital. That evening, I pulled by Musa’s kiosk to get some of his stuff. As I walked towards the kiosk, Musa (there were three other ‘Mallams’ who worked with him) was beaming with smiles and paying particular attention to me. I thought it was the normal courtesy to a regular customer but Musa had something special for me. As I got to the table proper, he greeted and went ahead to say: “Oga You Sabi Book o.”
I returned the courtesy but my thinking was that that was a way of expressing his admiration of my white Mercedez Benz 280 saloon car, the type we used to call “Concord” in those days. It was an old Tokumbo but it stood out especially on account of its size (I love big cars) and colour. I ordered for my suya but my customer repeated his accolade on me. “Oga Walahi, You Sabi Book Well Well o”; whereupon I retorted: “How You Know Say I Sabi Book?” He chuckled even as he was placing my order on the red-hot fire. “No Be You Be Mr. Okereke? Musa asked and even went ahead to try to pronounce my first name, something that even more articulate people find difficult to do correctly.
I quickly responded that I am not Okereke but to show that he meant business, Musa went behind the kiosk and brought out four old copies of the Daily Sun. He quickly flipped through the pages of one until he got to where my weekly column (then) was published. “No Be You Be Dis? he asked, pointing at my photograph in the logo. Then, quickly and dutifully, he went through a second volume and brought out another page where I also appeared and was about to go to the third one when I said: “Na Me Bi Dis But My Name No Be Okereke, Na Okere.” He laughed and said: “Oga, That One Na Small Matter Na, But You Sabi Book.” Then, without any further remarks from me and while my suya was warming in the fire, Musa began to explain why he had those old copies of the Daily Sun.
“Oga You See, I Be Muslim, So I Buy Dis Paper Every Friday To See Something About My Religion, And I See You There.” It was at that point that the encounter began to make better meaning to me. I used to do a weekly column in Daily Sun on Fridays, the same weekday the newspaper ran a column titled, “Marry Muslim.”
Although Musa spoke passable English – outside the more common pigeon – I didn’t bother to know if he read my column regularly and with any attention. It was sufficient for me to know that the newspaper (Daily Sun) was so widely read, popular and rich that even suya sellers preserved old copies of it; not just to wrap their wares but for reference. That was what it meant – and still means – to write for this newspaper; whether the write-up is a regular column, an opinion article contributed from outside, a features or ordinary news report. As a media go-between (not “consultant” as many would claim), you would notice that the first question a ‘client’ would ask is: “Will it appear in The Sun?;” that is, any of the titles in The Sun s stable. That was their (clients’) way of saying that they would prefer their story, article, advert or whatever, appear in The Sun.
I was one of the earliest columnists in Daily Sun following its debut in 2003. I had the opportunity to ask for a regular employment but I did not because I was already publishing and editing (in-chief) a magazine then known as ABC and I had wanted to continue with the experiment. It was to the late Dimgba Igwe, then the Deputy Managing Direct/Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, that I was asked to see. I did the column between sometime around June 2003 and June 2007 when I got appointed by His Excellency, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, then just newly elected as governor of my home state, Imo, to serve as Executive Assistant on Public Affairs and later as Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment and Documentary.
As is the practice, I had to discontinue with the column, but the truth is that like every journalist or regular newspaper commentator on sabbatical, I missed the fun. Fortunately for me, my main brief as a governor’s aide was to write articles to enlighten people on what we were doing and, of course, respond to unwarranted media attacks on my principal and his administration; and which came quite often.
This column, which I have named HAPPENING NOW, is about my sixth regular newspaper column in my journalism career. I started with weekly magazines – The Nigeria Economist, The Financial Post, Newbreed etc – but I did not believe I was practicing real journalism with the periodicals. I had wanted to work in a daily where the beats were hot fast. Hence, I moved to Champion newspapers in late 1988 as its pioneer Business/Economics editor and member of its Editorial Board. In Champion, I wrote a weekly column named THIS WEEK but I could remember one of my colleagues, Larry Aragba, who, at an Editorial Board meeting a day after its debut, criticised the name because it mimicked an existing weekly magazine.
I later moved on to Satellite newspapers as Deputy Editor where I also wrote a column, which was named DREAM MERCHANT. From there, I went to THIS DAY in 1995 as a pioneer staff and its first columnist and editorial writer. In 1996, I moved over to the Daily Times as Deputy Editor of the daily title and member of its Editorial Board. My going to the Daily Times was a career fulfillment because again, I did not believe that my experience in journalism would be complete unless I worked in the Daily Times, then the oldest, largest and perhaps best ran newspaper in the country.
The Daily Times stable was so well established that we used to joke that the newspaper could produce itself. Everything was in its right place and salaries and allowances, especially DTA (Duty Travel Allowance) – is there still anything like that in Nigeria – were paid as at when due even though they were probably the lowest in the industry then. The stable that ranked with the Daily Times in terms of orderliness was the Champion newspapers, which was managed by Chief Henry Odukomaiya, who, in any case, had been Managing Director of the Daily Times.
However, I met something that was almost similar at The Sun where I got my weekly stipend of N5,000.00 per column any time I requested for it. The late Dimgba Igwe, one of the most meticulous fellows I ever met in life, would promptly approve my claims and the Accounts Department would complete the rest. There was no “come tomorrow.” Even as an outsider, it was easy to know that the place was very well ran and staff adequately motivated. I hear it is still like that today; which is most likely the reason the newspaper has maintained its shine and also why, as I hinted earlier in this column, readers (like Musa) and other categories of its customers would almost always insist on “The Sun newspaper.”