Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin is one of the intellectuals men in the journalism profession in Nigeria. He is a stickler for training of journalists. He told SAM NWAOKO some of his media stories.
Journalists’ careers took off in various forms. How did yours start?
I read Mass Communication at the University of Lagos and graduated in 1985. Before then, the closest I came to practising the profession was at Government College, Ibadan, where I was the Editor of a house newsletter. When I was in school, I did internship – holiday job we called it back then – at Concord Newspapers. When I was in school, I was writing for newspapers, just like freelancing. I was sending opinion articles, letters to the editor and things like that. So I would say I started then. During our service year, I was the editor of the NYSC newsletter in Sokoto State where I served. So, journalism is something that I have consistently practised all the way. Before I joined The Punch which was my first main job, I worked briefly in a magazine called Contractor Magazine. I was hired as the Ogun State Correspondent of the Punch. There is a connection between the passing of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and my getting a job at The Punch. Mr. Vincent Oyo, the husband of The late Mrs. Remi Oyo, who was already a manager while we were in the same class at Unilag, gave me a note to the Guardian; somebody gave me a note to The Punch while another person gave me a note to the Concord. While waiting, the death of Chief Awolowo was announced. I lived in Ajegunle while Chief Awolowo had a home in Apapa. I knew that people would go to his house to write condolence messages, so I went across with a canoe to Apapa with my notebook. I wrote a story and submitted it to the Editor of the Punch. He was impressed and within a few days, he gave me a letter to go and resume in Abeokuta. That was the beginning; I was the Ogun State Correspondent from 1987 to 1990 when I returned to Lagos.
Since then sir, you must have crossed a lot of paths and (or) stepped on toes. Which are some of the memorable things you would like to share in your media journey?
After returning to Lagos, I served as the political editor – I covered politics of the General Babangida era of those political parties when we had Babagana Kingibe and Tom Ikimi. I also worked as the group news editor at The Punch. In-between, I got a scholarship from The Thomson Foundation to study advanced journalism in the United Kingdom. That really helped my career and Punch is one place that is difficult for me to forget. I learnt a lot there and also played many roles there. That was where I started training for journalists – that was why I got the scholarship actually. Eventually, I left Punch in 1999 and I tried to do some things on my own including the Media Career Development Network which I’m doing now. I also started a group known as Journalists for Christ. I wanted to launch them full time, but somehow, it didn’t quite work. While experimenting with that, I worked at National Interest founded by some people who moved from ThisDay and I also worked for Financial Standard and New Age. I didn’t spend up to a year in all of these newspapers. Eventually, I joined The Comet shortly before it transformed into The Nation. I was the pioneer Sunday Editor at The Nation. I was later made the Editor Online and in 2018, I left to fully work as a media career development person where I train and mentor journalists. It’s been an interesting experience fulfilling my desire to accomplish my career goals, becoming a news editor, becoming a Sunday Editor and got opportunities to travel round the world. It’s been very exciting.
Which specific memorable moments would you like to share of your journalism journey?
My career in Punch is something I will always be grateful for. I remember the MD, Mr. Ademola Osinubi saying ‘you will go to Abeokuta and work for us, you have an office and a phone of your own’. This was a big deal back then in the 1980s. I did a lot of stories that gave me some leverage so to speak. I remember I did a story of the first woman to become a local government chairman in Nigeria, Chief (Mrs.) Titilayo Ajanaku. Interestingly, just last month, I published a book on my Thompson Foundation trip to Cardiff. This 1998 trip exposed me to the use of computer and the Internet. That time, nobody was talking internet in Nigeria. Up till now, the impact of that training has helped me to be on the board of trustees of some organisations because I learnt to use search engines through which I searched for organisations that I got affiliated with. So, as I practiced journalism, I also developed my capacity to work like a civil society person, working with some NGOs.
One incident that might have got me sacked was when my father clocked 60 and was celebrating this landmark birthday in our community in Ijebuland. I went to celebrate with him and some of my colleagues also joined me there to celebrate him. They returned to Abeokuta while I stayed back with my father in the village till the next day. When they got to Abeokuta, they saw a statement that announced the death of Chief Olabisi Onabanjo. Colleagues sent the story but there was no mobile telephone with which to tell me about this. One of my friends, also a correspondent, Tunde Abatan, did not travel with the group. He was about coming to my village when he heard the news. He stayed back, wrote the story and sent it to my office. In the morning somebody came to greet my dad and said something about Onabanjo dying and that it was in the papers. I quickly left and by the time I got to Ijebu Ode and saw the papers, I saw the story: “Onabanjo dead by Lekan Otufodunrin, Abeokuta”. It was my byline. When I got to Abeokuta, I realised that it was my friend Tunde Abatan who sent the story. If I had missed that story, I’m sure that I would have lost my job or something like that.
Your calling now is Media Career Development Network through which you brush up media practitioners. From your experience on the field and at the desk, what is your usual message to trainees? What do you usually notice in entry-level journalists and what do you tell them?
The challenge is that the training they received in school sometimes does not match what they are required to do on the field. So, that constitutes a problem. There are some that are smart enough and there are those who understand that there are training opportunities and don’t limit themselves to what they are taught in school. Unfortunately too, those who teach journalism in schools themselves don’t have the full experience they need to impart. That is one of the reasons many people read mass communication but they don’t want to become journalists. They have not had enough training to inspire them. So, some of them come into the industry bereft of what they should know. They cannot write and lack the knowledge of some of those simple things that they were expected to know. That is a major challenge. That is why some of us have been advocating that as much as possible, we need to find a way to bridge the gap between the practical (on the field) and the teaching. It is not impossible to find a good blend. Some people who have experience will find time even in training institutions – it happens in the UK and some other parts of the world – they bring professionals to teach. It’s not just for periodic three hours but full time. Some institutions are already doing that in Nigeria. For instance, I teach in the IIJ and I had been an adjunct lecturer in the University of Lagos before. We need to encourage that so that when they come out, they are fully ready, they understand what the industry requires. And it doesn’t stop at that, there must be continuous training. Unfortunately, many media houses don’t make training. We need training at every level.
Could this non-prioritisation of training be as a result of funding or the capacity of those media houses?
I think it is about not getting their priorities right in the sense that, if you say telecoms or banking is working, it is because they make training a priority. Training is also part of the investment you make. You cannot treat it as an aside. So, just as you are buying newsprint or machines, training is what you should incorporate into the development of your staff because if they are good, the product will be better and the consequent outcome in terms of results will be good. But if you have staff that are not trained, they will be doing just the elementary things for you. Sometimes, even when you cannot totally afford these trainings, you can encourage your staff to find out what is available from media NGOs and international organisations. I travelled to the UK in 1998, Punch only paid for the flight. British Council paid for the tuition which was over £2,000 as far back as then. Organisations must also be accommodative of people who want to go for training. Sometimes, people people are invited for trainings and the editor will say there is no time to go. You need a reporter that is trained and contemporary. This is very important. When they return, they can step down for others. Training is critical but unfortunately we don’t make it a priority. There’s a joke in the media space that when some people are promoted to training managers, they are priming them to go because they a retired of them. Sometimes, when people are made managing editors in media houses in Nigeria, most times there’s nothing for them to do. However, managing editors have something to do, they are the ones who can manage the staff, they can ensure that they provide them the experience that they need. Also, it has to be stated that training doesn’t have to cost money because in some media there are veterans with loads of experience who can provide the required training. They don’t have to come from outside.
Who are your colleagues and those who inspire you?
Back in Punch, some of my favourite people include Mr. Ademola Osinubi. He was the deputy editor but the Editor who hired me was Alhaji Nojeemdeen Jimoh, a man I really respect; Dipo Onabanjo, who was the news editor; there was Chris Mamah there too. But over the years, we also interacted with some other people along the line. Mr. Victor Ifijeh, the MD of The Nation and I were on the same table in Punch, he was the political editor but years after, he is somebody who has helped my career. He was the one that hired me as Sunday Editor when I thought I was not going back to newspaper again. He supported me and he has been very helpful.
What inspires you apart from those you look up to?
For me, journalism is a ministry. It is an opportunity to be able to serve as the voice of the people. I remember that we did a story when I was Sunday Editor. It was a story I will never forget. A foreign newspaper published a story about how a TV station in the UK broadcast a story of people who die without being buried because nobody could trace their families. I read the story and I saw a Yoruba name among them. So, I was curious. I got one of my staff members to rewrite the story from the angle of Nigerians who died in the UK without anybody tracing them. My assistant editor then was Eni Akinsola. When we published that story in the Nation on Sunday, it happened that the family of that man was somewhere in Ibadan, in Ojo actually. Eni went to see them and got more information. With that story, we were able to connect that family with their lost son. Apart from that, people come to seek help and we help them publish things and they get help. So, to me, journalism is a ministry. Somebody described journalism as “a necessary profession”, it is not because of the glamour or things like that but a necessary one because it opens doors for all sorts of people even beyond you.
Then, training inspires me. I want to help young people I want to provide for them what they probably didn’t have and to show them the way so that when I look back, I’ll be glad that some of the people I’ve supported have gone to become notable people. Some of them have even become editors and they are grateful.
They talk about things you had done together and how God has helped you to support them and I’m happy. Now some of them are helping the work I do. So, my investment has not been a waste. On my birthday recently, I read comments on my Facebook post and one of the comments said “when you say you support journalists, you really mean it because of the way you do it.” These kinds of things inspire and challenge me to do more because journalists need mentors. They need people to speak with. Unfortunately, we are about work – “get me the story” but they also need people they can confide in and people who can show them the way, and that is what we are about at the Media Career Development Centre. We help journalists to structure their careers so that they don’t end up becoming veteran journalists and they are angry. Sometimes, some people look back at their career and they say I wasted all my years. Sometimes it has to do with structuring your career and sometimes know how to acquire some other qualifications or some other skills so that s you grow; knowing how to accept some other opportunities that are available so that as you grow, you are not feeling frustrated because some of the things that took us years to accomplish, some of the younger people accomplish them a lot quicker.
and then