On Saturday, January 5, just as many Nigerians were beginning to shake off the hangover from the Christmas and the New Year celebrations, media administrators, seasoned journalists, government officials and other invited guests converged on the main campus of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in Ogba, Lagos, for the 60th birthday celebration of the Provost of the institute, Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye, and the presentation of his new book, titled; The Editor’s Front Row Views.
As the guests took their seats in the main hall of the NIJ, the venue of the event, there was an air of expectation, so thick that one could reach out and grab a chunk of it. Of course, it was not often that a man of Ogunleye’s calibre marked his birthday with the presentation of a book, which presumably chronicled his experience as a prominent journalist and administrator.
Also, it was not often that an event of this kind promised an extra package in the form of a guest lecture by the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Nation newspaper and a seasoned journalist of no mean repute, Mr Victor Ifijeh.
A quick glance across the crowded hall showed that some of the biggest names in Nigerian journalism were in attendance. They included a former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the defunct Concord Newspapers, Dr Doyin Abiola; the General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of the Vanguard newspapers, Mr Gbenga Adefaye; a former Executive Director of The Punch Newspapers, Mr Azubike Ishiekwene; a former Editor of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr Martins Oloja; and the Chief Operating Officer of Television Continental, Mr. Lemi Olalemi, among others.
A former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Otunba Femi Pedro, was also in attendance as a representative of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He was in company with the Secretary of the Lagos State Government, Mr Tunji Bello, who is also a journalist; and the Commissioner for Informationa and Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, as well as other top government officials.
As expected, some of the guests paid glowing tributes to the celebrant, describing him in flowery terms as a brilliant, passionate and fearless journalist who was committed to a culture of excellence both within and outside the newsroom.
Indeed, before launching into his lecture, Ifijeh tried to paint a picture of the celebrant’s character. He told a story about how he met Ogunleye for the first time.
He said, “It was on June 12, 1993 that Gbemiga and I met, far away in Bauchi State. I was in Concord newspaper, on the political desk as assistant political editor. Gbemiga was with The Guardian. Of course, that was the era of the Open Ballot voting system.
“We were in Bauchi. Some policemen didn’t want us to get close to the venue of the election. But I insisted. A certain policeman cocked his gun, thinking that that would frighten me. I stood my ground. Gbemiga joined me. He said we must be there to capture the event of that moment.
“What happened? We prevailed. We were allowed into the election precinct and we reported it for our respective newspapers. Since then, Gbemiga and I, even though we have known each other by reputation, became very close.
“Then Bola Ige died. We got the story by 1am, dashed back to the office and did everything we could do. We got the paper out, happy and believing that we were the only newspaper that carried the story.
“Of course, we looked at The Punch, which was a major competitor as it has always been. So we were happy and started celebrating. Then Gbemiga called me to say, ‘Victor, I heard you people are celebrating. We also have the story.’
I said, ‘No, you don’t have the story. The copy of The Punch I have with me here has another story as the lead.’
He said, ‘You are joking. We did another edition.’
“He had left his Idimu residence at about 2 am for Onipetesi and produced an edition of the newspaper carrying the latest story! That is Gbemiga for you. When we were editors, we compared notes. And I tell you, Gbemiga was on top of his job. And that he has demonstrated today by the choice of this topic. Another fellow would have thought of something else. But he chose this topic because of what journalism worldwide is going through.”
Ifijeh’s lecture, themed Survival of the Print Media in the Digital Age, turned out to be a very thought-provoking one, which presented a discomforting picture of the true state of print media, not in Nigeria, but also in other parts of the world.
Unless urgent steps were taken to address the situation, he warned, the print media might eventually crumble under the full weight of the stiff competition from the digital media.
The seasoned journalist noted that signs of a possible death of newspapers had already started manifesting in the dwindling circulation figures, shrinking advert revenue, gradual migration of readers to online, and others.
Ifijeh called for strategies to keep newspapers alive. One of them is the creation an Audit Bureau of Circulation to ensure that there are verifiable circulation figures in Nigeria.
He also said there was a need for collaboration among newspapers for greater impact. He said, “I have always recommended that journalists should come together. Come together, float a viable online platform. Collaboration to cut costs is something that can no longer be postponed. So much has been said about this over the years, especially in the area of circulation, with little being done. Print organisations should think of ways of working together to help one another.”
Ifijeh urged newspaper managers to think outside the box, to evolve a more effective and strategic approach to management. “We must invest more in human capital, enhancing the skills of reporters and the staff in general. The skill gap in the media must be bridged. Only well-trained multi-media journalists can compete well in this digitalised age,” he said.
There was a different dimension to the presentation of Ogunleye’s new book, which was performed by Pedro, in a sense that there was no formal review of the work. To save time, Adefaye had to read from a chapter in the book.