New generation broadcasters not committed to journalism —Dotun Saseyi

His name is Dotun Saseyi, although many of his numerous radio listening fans know him simply as Maestro. Saseyi is a consummate journalist and broadcaster. He has paid his dues, having traversed both print and electronic media including Nigerian Tribune, Third Eye newspapers, Galaxy Television and Television Continental (TVC) where he was Head of Programmes before berthing at Petals, one of the leading radio stations in the South-West. In this chat, he speaks about his odyssey in the industry, submitting that in spite of apparent advance, passion and professionalism are on the wane among the new breed, raising concern over the future of broadcasting in the country. The Petals FM boss also recounts his close shaves with death as part of the hazards of the job.

How would you describe your experience in the industry, as regards career development?

My experience from Galaxy Television was a beautiful one because we had principals who were actually interested in the society, humanity and would not go abroad for frivolities. One had a lot of latitude to say what was right and do one’s job. I think that was what cemented us for a very long time. I did not have to run, because all Chief Steve Ojo would ask was, “Did you get all sides?” And if you said yes, he would defend you anywhere. Let them bring soldiers, he was going to stand for you. I never ever thought of trying out the public sector. I was given the kind of opportunities that one would have grown old in the public sector before getting such opportunities. The public broadcasting sector is just like the civil service and we know what is happening there. You do not have the  kind of feel that you have in the private sector.

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It is all about the permanent secretary,  or the hierarchy. It is all about politics in the way of actually getting the job done and most of the time, it is about getting the job done in the way somebody or the other wants it, especially key political officers, so you cannot criticise the governor and so on. At the end of the day, you will see the thing as a joke. Yes, there was a transitional period in the country where we had fantastic people in the public sector. I mean the likes of the late Yinka Craig and Fabio Olanipekun. These fantastic crop of broadcasters on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) were so awesome that you could not help but admire them. Ernest Okonkwo and many others who were on radio too. So, you could not write them off like that, but we transited to a very sorry point where everybody got tired of the public sector because they knew they were only going to tell lies. I started seeing those lies clearly during the dubious landslide electoral victory of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and it has got worse since then-I mean when you were having the likes of Babangida and Abacha eulogised and so on.

Are you comfortable with the quality of professional practice and environment now?

You know in the private sector then, it was not like you were going to become the boss. If your employers were happy with you, maybe they would just add to your salary from time to time. So, we were all like peers, just doing our bit. There was a lot of healthy rivalry and people tried to prove their mettle. If you knew Galaxy television of those days, we went out with cameras as reporters. I was taking my own shots, coming back and doing my editing. I started out doing the non-linear editing. That’s part of the versatility Chief Steve Ojo imparted in us. I enjoyed it because I did not have to ask any cameraman for shots. I could start writing my story as I was taking the shots. I knew precisely what shot would be suitable for my story, so those were what I would take first before I did the general bit. This way, when I got back to the studio, wrote  my story and finished my editing, I was always done  on time.

At that time, everyone was also talking about Channels and  African Independent Television (AIT), but after a while, it was not AIT any more. In our stride, we were able to push Channels too a couple of times in Lagos because of the kind of innovation that was brought into the Galaxy ‘s news packaging. The vice president of Galaxy, Engineer Francis Ojo, was really into the creative aspect of things and he created the National Pulse. He would write and I would voice it with some dramatic stuff. Sometimes, I would write and voice it and it hooked Lagos that time, which was what gave us the push to edge Channels Television at a point. Also, we were over the place trying to get news as it was breaking and then created the Abuja presence. We fought to that point. I think that was some kind of high point in my career. I was pleased when the ratings came out and we were topping Channels at that time.

Do you see same passion among the younger generation?

I do not really see the glamour that they often talk about, and I don’t think we will ever see the kind of commitment we had then ever again, because our kind of commitment, passion, zeal that we worked with were built on something and we had foundation of training and upbringing. The kind of instructions and advice you got from home, all your early life, formed each part of that foundation. So, we wanted to fight it out and make a success of anything we did and it did not matter whether you were a pilot or a driver.

Apart from that, we had a different margin of sense of morality nationally at that point in time. Because we ran into this serious moral pollution that I doubt very much if we would escape from. The children of today now have different orientation; they grow up in front of the internet and cable TV and receive less instruction on values, if any at all, from parents, grandparents and so on. The society has gone increasingly personal. Before, it was a collective thing like how we were in our house compounds. But, it is now my own child, my own thing and so on. Now, we build houses for exclusivity. You were not hearing about billions of dollars being stolen then, but now you hear it every day and all these children also want a bite. You cannot blame them for not doing as well as we did.