Segun Osoba, the Newspaper years

Book Review

Title: Segun Osoba, the Newspaper years,

Publisher: Corporate Biographers Ltd, Lagos, 2011

Authors: Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe,

Reviewer: Bayo Ogunmupe

THIS book, Segun Osoba, the Newspaper years is a history of Nigerian journalism from the fifties to 2011. It is more than a biography of Chief Osoba, the Araba of Yewa. Osoba’s Newspaper years is the golden age of Nigerian journalism. It started in the 1950s, it has not ended yet for he might spring the surprise of founding a newsmedia of his own. The Osoba era of the Nigerian journalism saw the media soar to its highest, giving birth to patriachs like Babatunde Jose, Lateef Jakande, Adamu Ciroma and Alade Odunewu.

  This showcases Osoba as a great reporter and turnaround manager. In his career, Osoba blazed the trails of Nigeria’s media history encapsulated in this volume. This volume isn’t only Osoba’s literary compendium, this book is merely a foil used to tell the larger history of the Nigerian media. Thus, no one who wants a niche in journalism can afford to ignore this treasure-trove of media directory. Laced with intrigue, professional technique and power play, Osoba’s Newspaper years makes captivating reading.

  The authors, Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe, media gurus by themselves, paint Osoba as a deserving dean of twentieth century journalism in Nigeria. Their book which opens with a prologue captioned, in the search of the reporter contains five parts, 22 chapters and 400 pages. Other matters enclosed in the book include 12 pages of outstanding acquaintances of Chief Osoba in pictures. Of course, the pictures include those of Osoba and his family of one wife and six children, his meetings with U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Jnr, Presidents Shehu Shagari and Umar Yar’Adua of Nigeria and Chhief Obafemi Awolowo.

  Osoba is introduced as the quintessential reporter with his core competency as news reporting. In a profession that is stingy on praise, Osoba enjoys an accolade from his peers as the “reporter’s reporter.” As the archetypal reporter, Osoba strode the media as colossus: he became editor of Lagos Weekend and the Daily Times. Moreover, he distinguished himself as a media turnaround manager of the state owned Nigerian Herald of Ilorin, Daily Sketch of Ibadan. He turned these drain-pipes into cash cows that were not only self-supporting but profitable. Thus, Osoba’s pivotal position in newspapering is as a reporter, he is so crucial to the media because news reporting is the soul of journalism.

  In part one of this book are listed seven patriarchs, from Babatunde Jose, through Alade Odunewu, Sam Amuka-Pemu, Henry Odukomaiya and Prince Tony Momoh. In Osoba’s Newspaper years, the natural prologue begins from Alhaji Jose, the patriarch of the Daily Times, the man who recruited Osoba, nurtured him and made him editor of Daily Times. Without doubt, Jose was the most influential journalist of his generation, derided and feared to the extent that they killed his Daily Times.

  “Remember there are two sides to a story. You don't just listen to one side and draw a conclusion. That is unprofessional. You should as a reporter look at your code of conduct. I think there are eight or more points in the code of conduct. A reporter who can avoid those booby traps, all those no-go areas, would be a damn good reporter. Osoba in my estimation was a damn good reporter.” That is the view of Alade Odunewu, former editor of Daily Times, and chairman, Nigerian Press Council. The hallmark of a good reporter, according to Odunewu, is the ability to give opportunity to various sides of the story and at the same time come out with an incisive report.

  Odunewu met Osoba at the Times. Both were employees of the paper but as an older professional Odunewu assesses his colleague as a great reporter, one who breathes journalism. He oozes news. He smells news. In the opinion of Odunewu, Osoba is the type of person he would ask to write a memoir: “News reporting All My Life.”

  Odunewu’s forte in journalism was and still is column writing. His pen name is Allah-de meaning God almighty exists, who sees through all human actions and motives. Allah-de said the foregoing to explain Osoba’s devotion to news gathering. To Osoba getting news was a way of life, a life-long devotion to duty.

  Prince Tony Momoh is a dean of Nigerian journalism. After editing the Daily Times he went on to become Times General Manager from where General Ibrahim Babangida appointed him Information Minister. “I never saw Segun touch alcohol or cigarette as a journalist,” was his assessment of Osoba who was his contemporary at the Daily Times. At the Times, Momoh remembers Osoba as the ebullient, scooter-riding colleague who was always dashing through the newsroom with well-crafted exclusive news copies. Momoh was a sub-editor while Osoba was a reporter. Eventually, Momoh edited the Times immediately after Osoba’s six month stint. Then Osoba went to Kwara State to manage the Nigerian Herald as General Manager. A few years later he moved to the state owned Daily Sketch in Ibadan.

  However, a recognisation of the Times after federal government acquisition produced Momoh as general manager and Osoba as managing director. Within the same year, Momoh was appointed Minister of Information. I was a sub editor on the Times at the time, so I witnessed all the drama which led to the demise of the tabloid.

  In part two of the five person highlighted in the book, I will mention three. I leave the others for your attention. Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi was Osoba’s successor as managing director of Daily Times. Ogunbiyi admired Osoba as a turn around media manager. He credited Osoba for turning the Times around from a loss position to a position where the company was beginning to make profit. Ogunbiyi considers Osoba to be very blunt and straightforward. Interestingly, he also revealed how Osoba defeated Moshood Abiola in the election of the position of chairman, Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria. It was the election at which Ogunbiyi won the position of NPAN general secretary. The lesson Ogunbiyi learned from Osoba’s victory was that social contacts are essential for success in business and life. He said Osoba has the mobile number of everybody. That he will give you the number of anyone from his little diary. And as the president of NPAN, Osoba could call the president and arrange a meeting. That was the concern for contacts.

  Another academic in journalism is Mrs. Doyin Abiola. She was features editor of the Daily Times when she got a scholarship to go abroad for her doctorate in mass communication, she went on to edit the National Concord and to marry Concord’s billionaire proprietor. In her view of Osoba, she considers Osoba as a daring and resourceful journalist. She said because Osoba is short-tempered, who cannot suffer fools gladly, a trait not permissible in politics, that was the reason people see Osoba as arrogant.

  However, for Idowu Sobowale, the professor of mass communication at Covenant University, Osoba was a first class reporter and news gathering is his way of life.

  In all, Osoba’s Newspaper years make captivating reading. It is an encyclopaedia of Nigerian journalism, a source book on world politics and a manual on media management. The next level for both the authors and the protagonist is for them severally to create thriving newspapers. They have succeeded in building newspapers for others. The next thing is for them to build their own newspapers.

  The authors Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe revolutionalised newspaering in Nigeria when they created the entertainment genre of journalism with Weekend Concord in 1989. It became the best selling tabloid at the time. They subsequently became the founding managing director and deputy managing director of The Sun newspapers in 2002. They wrote The Art of Feature Writing in 1990, fifty Nigeria’s Corporate Strategists in 1999 and Nigeria’s Marketing Memoirs in 2005. They are the publishers of Sunday Express and Entertainment Ex   

BY BAYO OGUNMUPE The Four Laws Of Abundance

On The Path Of Winners

BY BAYO OGUNMUPE

The Four Laws Of Abundance

THE word abundance sounds sweet. It is likeable. Translated from Latin, it means “rise up in waves.” So when you imagine and practise abundance, you stimulate riches to rise up toward you in waves.

  According to the scriptures, the first law of abundance is giving. To give is to pray daily, tithe daily and serve others regardless of your situation. This is amplified by the Bible: “Bring ye all the tithes into the store house and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it,” Malachi 3:10. So the secret of abundance is giving. Thus, to receive the good things of life, you must give. This creative law of plenitude is expressed in familiar words: “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it,” Mathew 10:39.

  Poverty is caused by ignorance. Poverty has no place in the planning of Jehovah who crammed this world with riches. It is man’s selfishness that messed up the supply of abundance to the masses. Such a simple thing as the giving of self, of thought, of money or time, of helpfulness, starts abundance flowing. Begin each day with the affirmation: “I am the rich child of a loving Father. All that the Father has is mine. Divine intelligence is showing me how to claim my God-given blessing of wealth, health and happiness. All that is mine by Divine inheritance now comes to me in abundance.”
  accordingly, the more you keep yourself, the less you have and the more you give, the more you have to give.

  In service as the second law of abundance; the Tao scripture, the Chinese Book of changes, popularly called The 1 Ching, a rich man is warned to serve others in order to retain his possessions. Even as the sun reaches its Zenith at noon, it is beginning to set, when the moon is full it begins to wane. So too if a man is rich, refuses to spread his wealth; and pursues indulgent luxury, he will gradually become poor. And when a man is successful, he may easily become arrogant, lose his friends and develop enemies and rivals. With a correct attitude, however, he can retain his prosperity. Thus, if a person is modest, then he will gain happiness. Service also means tithing yourself to people and God; doing something for your fellow man and for Jehovah’s work in the world. As you do this humbly and sincerely, abundant prosperity will flow up to you in waves.

  Because prosperity isn’t what you accumulate, but what you give away to assuage the needs of others, tithing is our third law of abundance. God gives us a lot of latitude in our financial dealings. This is where we humans get into trouble. But the bottom line is that each of us will give account of how we spent Yahweh’s resources. By way of tithing however, there comes outstanding moments when our prayers are answered, and a miracle is ours to claim. In an instant, we know that God is at work. Such a moment is never forgotten, a turning point that will forever be etched in our memory. God is always there, so never lose courage.

  Finally, your attitude will determine your attitude. Researchers at the University of California, United States have proved that attitudes make a difference in the germination of seeds. So, if attitudes of humans do that to seeds, what would they do to humans? Therefore you can decide to end your unhappiness by changing your attitude. Saint Paul said, “I beseech you… be not conformed to this world,” Rom 12:1. This translates to “Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold.” No one can escape the impact of his environment. But we can overcome it.

  Again St. Paul said, I beseech you therefore, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Thus, the only way to change a bad attitude is to change the way  you think.

  Our champion this week is Elie Wiesel, by name of Eliezer Wiesel, the Romanian born American novelist whose works provide a sober yet passionate testament of the destruction of the European Jewry during World War II. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986.

  Wiesel was born in September 1928 in Sighet, Romania. He spent his early life in hermetic existence of prayer and contemplation and was barely touched by the war. But in 1944 all the Jews of the town including the Wiesels were deported by the Wazis to Auschwits where his mother and younger sister were killed. He was later sent as a slave labourer to Buckenwald where his father was killed.

  After the war, Wiesel settled in France, studied at the Sorbonne (1948-51) and wrote for French and Israeli newspapers. He went to the United States in 1956 and was naturalized in 1963. From 1972, he was a professor of history at the City College of New York and from 1976, was professor of humanities at Boston College, USA.

  During his time as a journalist in France, Wiesel was urged by the novelist Francois Mauriac to write his memoirs as an Auschivitz inmate. The outcome was Wiesel’s first book, and the world has remained silent (1956), a semi-autobiographical account of a boy’s spiritual reaction to Auschwitz. The book is considered by literary critics as the most powerful literary expression of the Holocaust. His other works include, The Town Beyond the Wall (1962), a novel examining human apathy; A Beggar in Jerusalem (1968), which raises the philosophical question of why people kill; souls on Fire (1972) an acclaimed collection of tales; The Testament (1980); The Fifth son (1983); Twilight (1987); and The Forgotten (1989).

  All of Wiesel’s works reflect his experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust and his attempt to resolve the ethical torment of why the Holocaust happened and what it revealed about human nature. He became a noted lecturer on the sufferings of the Jews and other peoples during the Holocaust. Wiesel is also celebrated for his ability to transform this personal concern into a universal condemnation of all violence, hatred and oppression. This was also responsible for his being awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.

  For the enlightenment of my readers, let me explain the term Auschwitz as Nazi Germany’s largest concentration camp and extermination camp. It was located near the Polish town of Oswiecin. Hitler’s Internal Affairs minister Heinrich Himmler established it in 1940 for political prisoners. There, they gassed prisoners to death, about four million European Jews were exterminated by Hitler’s Germany. To prevent a repeat is the reason for the establishment of Israel as a nation state.

  For Holocaust, this means the state sponsored killing of Jews by Hitler’s Germany, for which Germany paid reparations. The issues are ethnic rather than religious. The Jews are not Christians, they worship Judaism, the first religion that believe in one God.

Moments With Mike Awoyinfa

  Corporate interview of Mike Awoyinfa, the immediate past Managing Director of Sun Newspapers and his deputy, Dimgba Igwe. It is about the upcoming launching of their biography of Segun Osoba, the quintessential reporter and former governor of Ogun State. The book, Segun Osoba, the newspaper years, will be launched on March 22, 2012 at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

  Interview by BAYO OGUNMUPE and Beauty Edia: Excerpts:

How has it been as a journalist so far?

  I am Dimgba Igwe. Talking about how it has been as a journalist. We started our journalism career in the Concord newspaper. Two of us happened to work with an innovative man called Dele Giwa. Somehow, he impacted deeply into our lives because we worked under his editorship and he is someone that made a huge impact in Nigerian journalism in the sense that he came in to change the rules of the game.   He introduced the American type of journalism approach to news papering and he featurized the story and he was a man that has new ideas. In our days under him, we were made to write magazine. It was usually a page pullout.

  After the Dele Giwa period, we continued to work in the Sunday Concord until the management of Concord decided that Mike should lead the starting of a new type of newspaper called the Weekend Concord.

The reason why the weekend concord started was because, on Saturday, we noticed that newspaper sales drop. It was so bad that some people contemplated that Saturday should be a free newspaper day but our managing director then and editor in chief, Dr. Doyin Abiola, after going abroad for holiday and after looking around came back with a notion that maybe if we do a different kind of newspaper, maybe, Saturday will be better.

  The editor selected for that assignment was Mike and I was made the deputy editor and then we founded the paper called the weekend concord from the scratch. That newspaper became so successful that it became the first Saturday newspaper in the country and not only that, it was after that we left Concord and started our own company called Mcdee Communications Limited.

  It was basically into publishing of books and one of the first book we wrote was a book called 50 Nigeria corporate strategy. One striking thing about the book was that it was a book where 50 chief executives of the biggest companies in Nigeria’s experiences and memoirs were tapped.

  The secrets of managing businesses. It was my capturing of the memoir of 50 different field into one book. The book was about 900 pages and we were selling it for N10,000. It was so successful and we have done print runs of that book.

As we talk today, not even one of the book is left.

  We later followed up on another one called Nigeria marketing memoir. That book was basically 50 case study of marketing campaigns, brand building, product positioning, product strategy. The book was also very successful.

We later moved on to start a newspaper called The Sun.  What we basically do when we started the Sun was to lay it back to the surface formula of the Weekend Concord and the surface formula of the weekend concord was the fact that this is a newspaper that strive on human-interest stories. So the Sun, we also built it around human interest and editorial content. Many people initially thought that it will be difficult to sustain a daily newspaper built around human interest but it took only a couple of months to discover that they were wrong. The Sun you are still seeing today is an evident that they were wrong.

  But of course, after about 8 years in the Sun, we have to part ways and we came back to nurture a new programme entirely and that's a newspaper called Entertainment Express.

  We started a little over 6 months ago. It has become successfully enough and it also gave birth to another paper called Sunday express.

  That is talking journalistically. But, coming back if you are looking at what is our journalistic pedigree.

  What has been your motivating factor in your pursuit of journalism career.

  We love this job. We are adventurous. We like to find out things. We like to report news. The news is in our blood. News is a very interesting phenomenon. Its always changing. In this kind of job, everyday is not the same. What we like about this job is the surprises. The unpredictability of this job. Its a job where nobody knows.

News can break at any time. Today, there's a coup, tomorrow, there's is a boko haram. As a reporter, you just have to go out there at the risk of your life to get the stories so that you know, your readers will read the story and get insight into it. Its a very dangerous job where you can lose your life but, we risk our lives to get the story.

  Regardless of taking this adventurous risk, what has made you so successful, do you attribute it to risk.

  Its the love of journalism and the fact that, like we said, we interviewed CEO's from all over the country sharing their experiences how they run businesses. That was our training ground on knowing for knowing how to run businesses and as Dimgba told you, we also wrote a book on marketing, brand building. This book became the template, from which we went to practicalise the Sun but this interview is not about the Sun but the book.

  Basically, you are known to be an entertainment journalist, and in The Examiner, you gave us a lecture that your style of journalism was entertainment, I would want you to expand on that?

  I have always believed that entertainment has always been a key thing in journalism. As a person, I hate boredom. What is the point of buying a newspaper and everything you read are just texts. Nothing draws or excite you.

  I mean, journalism is like marketing and marketing is excitement. You have to excite and woo the readers. How do you woo the readers? You do this by presenting your stories is very easy to read and entertaining manner.

  When you are not entertaining, nobody wants to read you. Before, you can educate, you must entertain. Also, for you to inform, you have to entertain.

Like I was saying, in another setting, its like taking drugs. If you don't put sugar around it, it becomes very difficult to swallow.

  That is the point about bringing entertainment into journalism.

There's no business like entertainment. Its the best business in the world. So, I always like drama, excitement, surprises. I hate been boring my reader.

  Have you got that sense at play in your writing of Osoba's biography?

People who have read this book why they say they want to hold it. It is unputdownable.

  Everything we have learnt in journalism has been brought to bear in this book in our ability to present in a very lousy, breezy and conversational style. The approach of this book is conversational. Osoba who is the hero of this book is been used as a plough. Its not just a book about Osoba per se. Its a memoir of all the key players of Nigerian journalism from the 1950s up till date. People who work with Osoba.

  Osoba in his days was a great reporter. He was not just a great reporter, he was a great turn around manager who did extra ordinary things worthy of celebrating and this is what we have come to celebrate so that the younger generations of journalists will know and appreciate what he did in the past. Not just Osoba alone but what journalism was in the 50s, 60s, 70s.

  Its always good for today's generation to know the history of their profession. To know the makers, the big players. People who have being there before them so that people will not just say journalism just dropped today. You know there is nothing new under the sun.

  Its an attempt to go back to the past, to exploit the journalists of the past so that we can use it as a benchmark to compare the standards of today for improvement.

  I like the writing on Bonuola. So, I was surprised that what concerns you. So, I was wondering why him. What is the connection since you are writing the biography of Osoba.

  What we are doing is looking at the history of journalism and the story of the evolution of journalism over the last 50 years. Looking at it, we strive to use a character to focus this story. So, Osoba becomes that character around which the story evolve.

  Why he became the character was because he epitomizes the art of great reporting which was fundamental to the very essence of journalism.

  Secondly, he was also a good turn around manager. He demonstrated that in Daily Times.

  Now, those are two pillars, that is, the journalism side and the business side. That if they don't marry properly, the newspaper will collapse. Alignment of this two dimensions will make a newspaper fly.

  Osoba calculated this dimension. In the writing of Osoba's journalistic story, there are people that came in contact with him and those he came in contact with who had to capture the story of Osoba. Bonuola now came in because he was a sub editor at the daily times and subsequently, he was one of the founders of The Guardian.

  Osoba was instrumental to Bonuola coming into the Guardian and in doing so, we needed to ask him that who is this man that changed your life? So, the man keep telling you that this is the man that shaped my life.

  Osoba thought then that he was coming to run the Guardian but was drawn away by politics and couldn't end up in The Guardian.

  In reading about this book, you are not just reading about Osoba. You are also reading about the newspaper and their stories.

  If you don't know the Guardian, by reading this book, you know how The Guardian started. How they evolved their house style, the culture. Everything is told in this book.

  So, it is an historical book. A book that today’s generation of journalists will read and understand and know their history. Like we said, there is no one that will read this book and will not succeed not just in journalism but in life generally.

  How has it being so easy for you to compile this book?

  It wasn't that easy. Anything that is good is not easy. It takes a lot of hardwork, determination and willingness to reach the goal you have set for yourself. It is not easy writing any book. It takes discipline, determination, perseverance and a sense of focus because there are so many reasons why a book should not be finished.

  There are so many distractions. It takes the grace of God to finish the book and planning.

  I assume that entertainment newspaper is your own personal business. So, what are your plans for the future in that regard?

  We intend that it should be daily. Let's start by saying that when we talk about entertainment, sometimes, it depends on the.   Every book or material that will be read need to be presented in an entertaining manner for people to accept it. So, for every journalism of any source,  stories have to be presented in an entertaining and acceptable manner for it to gain readability. That's what we see Time Magazine, Guardian and that’s what we do in New York Times. If they are not, their is a deficiency.

  There is therefore a distinction between making the story entertaining and focusing on people on the lighter side of life or frivolism. That's a different dimension of entertaining. We, are looking at entertainment journalism in the context of making a platform that captures the mind of a younger generation. If you look at the demographic population of any country, they are the largest segment.

  What are the things they are interested in? They are interested in the things that are dramatic. The kind of things they see on television, Internet, and so on. Our job as an entertainment newspaper is basically to capture all this rhythm of life of the young generation whether it is in music or film or in lifestyle or dressing. When you put it together, we believe that will be the future of the media market because already, the mainstream newspaper are having difficulty in circulation and reason is because the readership is shifting away from hard issues.

  Newspaper will not die but it is a paradigm shift in the media readership. Its creating problem of survival. Around the world, hundreds of newspaper are dying probably because of the problem of readership.

  So, you got to where they are. If you want to catch fish, don't go to the desert. You go to where they are. Where do you go? You go to the seaside. Where are the young people? Go to where they are and catch them.

  That is what they are and we are using price. It is sold for N50. The pricing dimension is simply that this people you are going to capture have low purchasing power.

  Also, if you out priced yourself, they drop you and switch on to the television. Or go to their twitter or ping on their blackberry. To catch this people, your price also have to be entertaining.

  Our strategy is to build the customer of the future. To catch them young. By the time they start at this early age to get used to Entertainment Express, Sunday Express and Daily Express when it finally comes on board, they grow with it. They ride on the express as they grow so that it becomes a part of them as they grow. We believe business is not about today but about the future.

  What's your message for Nigerians?

  You can see that PDP is not doing well. Inspite of their failure to meet the needs of Nigerians, they are still winning the elections. Is it the innate stupidity of Nigerians?

Well, its not about the innate stupidity of Nigerians. Nigerians are no the ones that are voting. What is voting is a machinery. It is not the people. It is a system that is designed to disemphasize the people and by doing this, they really have no say and that is why you see that some of the people that get elected, some people say that they were elected in vote but anytime they have a court of appeal overthrow an election.  You now see the people jump over the tree and jubilate and then you ask yourself, who were the people that voted this people in the first place. Everybody was rejoicing that they were removed. The reason is that they were never really elected. It was the system and this system is been used in the alias in the conspiracy of the INEC, security apparatus and coalition of even the electoral agents.

So, that's is why they are winning.

  Message for the nation.

  The message for the nation is that money is not everything. And that we need to rally round to restore integrity to our nation, of our value system and the more we sell our conscience to enable politicians to win elections, the more we are destroying the fabrics of the future of the nation. We need to come together and make up our mind that enough is enough. A time has come when men of good conscience should come together and make a vow that the next election, we will monitor our vote. Because the man that rob you of your vote has robbed you of your humanity, and individuality. We are just victims.

  The tragedy of Nigerians is subsumed in the story of PDP. Recently at an event, when a woman was honored. What did she do? PDP tried to bribe her in Ibadan and she refuses to yield to the bribery inspite of everything. An organization decided to honor her for resisting temptation. I was very touched.

  It brought to fore the stinking nature of our political system. All we know in this country is about rigging. Going through the back door. How I wish holiness will flow into our political system and how I wish righteousness will flow into our political system, how I wish rigging will go back to the devil where it belonged. We don't need it. Let the man who has won come into power. Not the one who came in through the backdoor through rigging and all that.

Dimgba –  and that reminds me about somewhere in this book is a story of how S.A Akintola was plotting how to rig an election and unknown to him, there are some contentious Nigerians working at a telephone company who bugged the line and all the communication process were captured by one reporter and his name is Osoba.

So, before the election takes place, go and arraign so so person, go and charge him for this, they didn't know that as he was speaking, one reporter was listening in hearing the different command he was issuing and he was publishing coups and using it to abort elections.

  You see, rigging is an old story. It has always been there. But also, the role of journalists in stopping it has also always being historically central. It is not only PDP that rig, other parties are also doing it.

  What we are saying is that enough is enough. Let the people speak and let them vote.

We should also be talking about the cost of governance, which is also very high that little or nothing is left for actual development. It means we are simply designing a system simply to fund political office holders.

  Those are the challenges I believe as a person we face in the nation.

  When are you launching the book?

  We will be launching it on March 22^nd at MUSON Centre. By 11am

Become the Person of Trust

Become the person of trust

THE most valuable attribute of a person is his integrity. Trust is crucial in relationships be it within a family, a business, a church or in a friendship. With integrity, strong positive relationships are built, fed by encouragement and consistency. People who are trusted have developed their character and have earned the right to be trusted.

  Thirty years ago,  I read a book by Curry Mavis, Advancing the Smaller Church, in it he said something I still cherish today. He said the greatest problem in local churches is low morale. If you can lift the people’s spirits, then good things can happen. High morale is the result of the leader’s confidence and trust in the people he leads. Morale is conveyed through a spirit of common purpose and it produces a psychological well-being based on such factors as principle, conduct and confidence in the teaching of the church.

  Trust depends very little on a person’s name, his station in life or how wealthy he is. The key to consistent trust is the character of the person who leads. Whether we lead at home, business or mosque, we are responsible for being trustworthy. We have to prove by example that we are as good as our word. There is no other way to establish a reputation for being trustworthy except to be trustable.

  You can develop trust in people by applying the following principles. One: Demonstrate what you want to instill. People need to see what they ought to be. A cartoon punch line read: No matter what you teach the child, he insists on behaving like parents. That is certainly a humbling truth for all parents. When I discipline others, it is important for me to be what I teach others to do. The crucial truth is, we teach what we know. But we reproduce what we are. To teach others to do right is wonderful. To do right is even more wonderful. It may be harder to teach but it is easier to learn.

  The great psychologist and author, Dr. James Dobson, in his books said, kids begin to buy into your spiritual guidance and direction in the area of values at about five years of age. At such times, you are the primary role model, the most significant person in his life! If what you say is different from what you do, your child will choose to imitate what you do every time. In the words of the great American essayist, Zig Ziglar, “your children pay more attention to what you do than what you say.” So the most valuable gift you can give to your offspring is the example of a clear, consistent and disciplined approach to faith in God. It is most important that your children see these things beginning in their earliest years. What they learn and establish in those years can go a long way in getting them through the tumult of adolescence.

  Encouragement causes growth. It has the effect of a gentle rain, it causes steady growth. The secret of Andrew Carnegie’s genius for developing others was his ability to encourage good qualities while holding fault-finding to a minimum. Confidence withers under fault-finding. I am yet to find the person whatever his station in life who did not perform better under approval than under criticism. There are enough criticism in the world. What we need are more cheer leaders. You can learn to be an encourager by practicing the following: One, appreciate people for who they are. This is truthfully played out in the lives of children. They have a way of mirroring what they hear about themselves.

  Two, anticipate people will do their best. By anticipating that, people’s vision of their future will become real, it will be easy for you to encourage them as they stretch. Raise your anticipation level and you raise their achievement level. Three, admire their accomplishments. Thank and praise the people for what they have done. Remember, man does not live by bread alone. Remember the effect of praise is electrifying. Finally, accept your personal responsibility for the people’s welfare. If you oversee people you are responsible to take the heat at times.

  Again, let me emphasize the importance of character in developing trust. Bishop Abel Muzorewa of Southern Africa tells of a critical period in his life when he had been asked by his people to lead the African National Congress. He knew that all previous leaders in Rhodesia who had been critical of unjust government policies had been either deported or killed. As he did not want to be killed, he prayed and he was left unmolested as a pastor. If you believe in people, they will begin to believe in themselves. By helping others to become successful, you create greater happiness in the world. “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a life time,” a Chinese proverb. Which is why you should equip people for future growth. You and I cannot grow another person, we can only give him the equipment to develop himself. We do this first, by showing him that the growth is beneficial, we whet appetite for growth. Then we expose him to people like himself who have moved out and become successful. We prove that it can be done. Finally, we provide an opportunity for him to use his new equipment. Then we stand back and encourage. Always give the people the encouragement they need in order to succeed. Hearken to these seven action steps toward leadership. One: Leadership is being the best in your field. A leader sustains himself by his ability to generate new ideas. Two: Never mistake knowledge for wisdom, knowledge enables you to make a living, wisdom teaches you to make a life. Three: A prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to Allah and a scourge to Satan. Four: Character is more important than talent. Five: God never gives authority without accountability. Don’t invest in companies, invest in men who run them. Six: Your goal should be the purpose of every action you take. It is not ability but desire that creates success. Seven: Only leaders who cherish integrity does God reward with ability.

  Our champion of the week is Rigoberta Menchu, the indigenous Guatemalan human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1992. Menchu was a Mayan Indian of the Kiche ethnic group. Menchu has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala’s indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan civil war (1960-1996) and to promoting indigenous rights in Latin America. She is the subject of the testimonial biography, I, Reigberta Menchu (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work: Crossing Borders.

  Her father, a leader of an organization opposed to the Guatemalan military junta, died while protesting human rights abuses by the military. Her younger brother was burned to death by a military death squad in 1979 and her mum was kidnapped and mutilated by soldiers the following year. Menchu then fled to Mexico in 1981. She was cared for in Mexico by the Catholic church. She later joined international efforts to make the Guatemalan government stop its brutal campaigns against the indigenous peoples of Guatemala.

  Menchu gained world fame in 1983 with her book: I, Rigoberta Menchu, in which she tells the story of her youth and recounts in horrifying detail the torture murders of her brother and mother. She was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her continuing efforts to achieve social justice and reconciliation in Guatemala. The Nobel Committee has dismissed calls to revoke her Nobel prize because of the reported falsifications in her testimonials. However, the Nobel Committee approved of her prize because it was not based exclusively or primarily on her autobiography. It said that her purpose in telling her story the way she did enabled her to focus international condemnation on an institution that deserved it, the Guatemalan army.

  In 2007, Menchu stood for the presidential election in Guatemala. Had she been elected, she would have become Latin America’s fourth indigenous president after Mexico’s Benito Juarez, Peru’s Alejandro Toledo and Bolivia’s Evo Morales. Menchu was also a candidate in the 2011 presidential election but lost in the first round.

  In 2006, Rigoberta was one of the founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. She is also a member of Peace Jam, a society whose mission is to create young leaders committed to positive change in the world in the spirit of Alfred Nobel

On the path of winners By Bayo Ogunmupe Being wealthy without greed

Being wealthy without greed

IN avoiding addictive substances which way do you go? Is it cocaine, filthy lucre or marijuana? Perhaps you should avoid hashish, heroine or steroids. TO know the world’s most addictive substance, it depends who you talk to. But if you were to ask God, you would be surprised at His answer. I do not believe God would identify any of those addictive substances in your mind. Instead of hashish God would probably say cash. Jehovah would tell you that the world’s most addictive substance is money. It is one of the scriptures most discussed subjects, the love of which is the root of all kinds of evil.

  I am sure money is the globe’s most addictive substance. In itself money isn’t bad. But it can become addictive. It has been the cause of war, death, divorce and all sorts of other nasty things. Yet Yahweh tells us that money is a gift from Him. As such it is vital that we learn to handle and view money through God’s viewpoint.

  God’s advice concerning cash is found in the Bible book of Timothy 6:5-10. Tearing these verses into pieces gains you important morsels of truth that teach us how to view money to maximum benefit, to use it in the way God intends. If you digest these verses, they will change your life, free you from greed, addiction to money and enable you to remain focused on the stuff of life that really counts.

  Having a proper view of money is viewing money as a blessing instead of a right. In the passage from Timothy, it reads: These people think religion is supposed to make you rich, in verse 5. Here God reminds us that we have no guarantee of money just because we worship God. But not everybody is going to accept that. Some feel that God owes them health, wealth and prosperity – just because they are following Him. It would have been nice if it works that way. But it doesn’t.

  Contrariwise, the passage reminds us that earthly wealth isn’t our paycheque for serving Jehovah. Which was why many have died throughout history in penury while with God. God only promised us contentment. However, it is true that people who live according to God’s financial principles often prosper and rightly so. The more you handle your money God’s way, chances are the richer you will be. In fact the best fundraising tool for any cause is to teach people to be good managers of their own money. Missionaries have found that when people submit to God and His principles, they will move up at least one social and economic ladder. They say – God’s principles make dollars.

  The second part of having a proper view on money is to view money as something that is temporary instead of something that is eternal. “We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave,” Timothy 6:7. Here we are warned that we cannot take material things with us when we die. This goes to show that money is only a temporary gift from God to get us through life.

  The best way to remind oneself that money isn’t worth much attention is to become a giver. By giving to people who are in need, giving to worthy causes and giving to God, we keep greed in check.

  The third lesson is to view money positively but not fall in love with it. I know this is difficult to do seeing how much you can achieve with money. In Nigeria of today with money you can buy respect, university degrees or any fancied partner. Which is why we worship money and money-bags nowadays. But over-employment of our material things tempts us into sin. When you succumb to the temptation to love money, you get wrapped up with foolish and harmful desires that will destroy you.

  Take gambling for instance, it is one of the foolish things a person can do. Yet, it has become one of the popular forms of entertainment being the motive behind the British Premier League Annual Tournament. Moreover, people believe they have good chances to win lotteries. Their love of money and desire to win overshadows common sense. A reason I advise against gambling is that it tugs at your greed for more and more money until it gets hold of your soul, dragging you away from righteousness and ultimately destroying you spiritually.

  Money and of itself isn’t a bad thing. But loving money is wrong. God wants us to view money as a gift from Him to us to use for good purposes. Thus, you are to like money as a favour from God for us to use judiciously for His causes. Which is why religion does not guarantee that you will become rich. However God reminds us that worship in the form of Muslim salat does not secure from Him any material rewards. Rather our faith will pay us spiritual rewards. The riches Allah promised is contentment, not money. The challenge is to be contended, while keeping your paycheque secondary. “So we should be satisfied just to have good and clothes,” Timothy 6:8. IT is lunacy to compare yourself to others. Of all the famous people in history, few were famous for their money, many were famous for how they lived: Napoleon for conquering Europe, Lincoln for saving the USA from disintegration and Einstein for discovering the atomic bomb.

  Our champion for today is Linus Carl Pauling, the American chemist who applied quantum mechanics in the study of molecular structures and won two Nobel prizes, one for Chemistry in 1954 and another for Peace in 1962. Pauling was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts in the international control of nuclear weapons and his campaign against nuclear testing.

  Born in February 1901 in Portland, Oregon, United States, Pauling died in California in 1994. He graduated first class at Oregon State University in 1922, then became graduate assistant in chemical engineering at California Institute of Technology, Pasadema where he took his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1925. For two years he worked with Arnold Sommerfeld in Germany, Niels Bohr in Denmark, Erwin Schrodinger, Germany and Sir William Bragg in Britain. He returned to California as professor of chemistry in 1931. He served as director of Gates Laboratories 1936-58.

  Pauling’s work for which he received his first Nobel Prize dealt with aspects of molecular structure, ranging from simple molecules to proteins. He was among the first to apply quantum mechanics to the structure of molecules and he effectively utilized x-ray diffraction. He was successful in relating the distances and angles between chemical bonds. His theory of directed valence was an outgrowth of his early work. His resonance theory came under heavy but unsuccessful attack in the Soviet Union. In 1940, with a German-born biologist Max Delbruck, he developed a concept of molecular complementarity in antigen reactions.

  Late in the 40s, he became interested in sickle cell anemia when he learned that red blood corpuscles show their abnormal shape only in venous blood. Following the development of nuclear weapons, Pauling became deeply concerned of the hazards of exposure to radiation. He expressed his views in books leading to his campaign against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In addition to winning two Nobel Prizes, Pauling was widely honoured for his success as a scientist and pacifist alike. He died aged 93.

Express Yourself! by Laura Day

“I AM AN ARTIST.” “I AM A DESIGNER.” What is it that inspires someone to say those four words? In my way of thinking, artists and designers do not choose their path, rather the path is chosen for them. Both experience an irresistible pull toward self-expression, but don't we all? Art historians and others debate the meaning of "artist" and some conclude "artist" is ultimately indefinable. For me, definitions just fall short, missing the magic, forgetting the compulsion to create, to put into order. So, I have made up my own definitions...

An artist is anyone who creates a statement in something that speaks without words. An artist is someone who finds a way to say something that has no words. Art takes many forms and we observe it and are affected by it in many ways. One of the best moments to me is when I am struck by a piece of art and upon further investigation, I am even more inspired by the artist herself/himself. For instance, visit the ARTIST STUDIO for an intimate interview with one of my favorite artists (and now favorite people), Marilyn Minter.

A designer is anyone who can't resist the compulsion to rearrange and organize a space over and over again in their head, no matter how many times they have seen it. A designer is someone who establishes a plan to create something and executes it to a desired result. We are all designers. We are all the designers of our own lives. When we get dressed, we create our look for the day, a kind of performance art. When we design a room, we create a new stage. Visit the GUEST HOUSE, to meet my designer crush Kara Mann and her personal sources of inspiration.

When I was putting together this Madison Avenue apartment, I became curator as much as designer. I worked more by instinct than by plan, finding things I connected with and discovering the right place for each piece. I feel like that was a real evolution for me personally and as a designer. In this volume of Laura Day Living, I'm taking a similar approach to developing the rooms of the site. My hope is to create a “salon” where I can introduce more readers to my favorite artisans. So, check out the video of Silas Seandel in his studio in THE LIVING ROOM. And visit THE BEDROOM for tips on curating your own space (and making your own art). Come back often, we'll be adding lots more as the holidays approach.

I hope that as you tour through the rooms, you will be inspired to become the curator of your own space and the designer of your own life in more ways than you thought possible! All you need is a little inspiration and the confidence to do it.

The Journalist Wife, A book Review by Bayo Ogunmupe

SINCE the craving for information is the natural inclination of man, any wonder therefore, that he goes to any length, even up at the detriment of his life to get informed? That was the craving that led the late Bayo Ayanlola Ohu, the Assistant News Editor of The Guardian on to his death in September 2009.

While the widows, children, siblings, parents and colleagues of slain newsmen lick their wounds and continue with their deflated lives, Ochuko Blessing Ohu, widow of late Ohu, has confronted her agony by scribbling down the thoughts that have raced through her mind in the last two years.

Thus, Blessing has poured her heart out and opened it for all to see. The result is this book, The Journalist’s wife (Jonap Communications Limited, Lagos, 2011).

Her book is in five parts: her life story, interviews and commentaries on the state of the Nigerian nation. From part one: ‘Sunset at Dawn’, the author begins a mental journey into the past to ascertain the veracity of her existence and experience. Jolted from a dream, her mind races through the maze of the Nigerian reality, of her initial meeting with her late husband. Born into the family of an itinerant military officer, Blessing was with her family when it was transferred to Katsina.

Thus at Katsina, two southerners of differing ethnic nationalities were locked in love tango in a most unexpected place – a stadium. And so began a blissful congress of holy matrimony, faithful parenthood and beautiful motherhood and tragic separation.

The life of a journalist’s wife, Blessing was soon to find, is far from being blissful. Beside the simple popularity, ephemeral connections in high places and respect from folks in the neighbourhood, journalism doesn’t turn bylines into money. Often with no time for the family, the journalist sacrifices his home for the public good. For the love of duty, a passionate journalist may abandon his family for months and when he triumphs, he might be neck deep in more devious search for truth, culminating in cases more risky if not down right deadly.

At the receiving end of it all is the journalist’s wife whose heart is always in her mouth, keeping vigil over late nights and long travels. Because the journalist isn’t a regular nine-to-five worker, his home is often manned by a powerful woman who acts both as father and mother to the children. Thus, the journalist’s wife is often the power behind the home.

While journalism poses great challenges to family life, Blessing’s story has come to demonstrate a sincere appreciation of the newsman’s work and his contribution to national integration and development. According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the goal of journalism is “to serve the general welfare by informing people”. The Journalist’s Wife makes that purpose abundantly clear to both the author, who is a budding journalist herself and her readers. In this way this book has provided some cathartic relief for a woman who has passed through the gates of hell and has come out triumphantly.

As admirers of newsmen know, The Journalist’s Wife also demonstrates that truth-bearers are no common beings. They are the custodians of the moral values of the society as admonished by the Nigerian Constitution 1999 at Section 22 which says: “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people”.

Accordingly, journalists form the ombudsman for the government and a gadfly that stings the people to a lawful uprising in situations of crass ineptitude and injustice.

In a nation where falsehood has become the gospel of governance, truth-bearers would be nailed to the cross. That was what they did to Ohu and those others before him. This is a highly commendable book in for the Nigerian public. Its five parts cover from the meeting, marriage and family life to the death of Bayo Ohu. Part two deals with the life and times of the author: Blessing Ohu. Part three is on the reflections of the author on what it takes to be married to a journalist in Nigeria while part four is captioned ‘Bondage of Lies as the Foundation of Corruption’. Here, Blessing avers that lying has become a cultural thing in Nigeria. Mrs. Ohu believes that there cannot be justice where there is no truth or respect for truth. Thus by Nigeria’s descent into pseudologia, she warns of the dangers the future holds for Nigerian journalists, and warns that the Nigerian environment is dangerous for the survival of newsmen.

In its final chapter captioned ‘Tributes’, Ohu shows gratitude to those who by messages, gifts or attention got in touch with her over the loss of her husband. Those she mentioned include the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Ejiofor Abugu and Eno-Abasi Sunday of The Guardian.

Ochuku Blessing Ohu, the widow of Bayo Ohu, is a professional teacher. She is presently pursuing a degree in Mass Communication at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. She is 33 with five children for her late husband.