By Abdulrazaq Magaj
My first major assignment for Newswatch,
once Africa ’s most cited and best known news
magazine, was to do preliminary work ahead of the 50th anniversary of the
golden rule of late Sultan Abubakar Siddiq III. It was one assignment that took
me to many parts of the north to talk to people who had one opinion or the
other to express about Sultan Abubakar Siddiq and the Sokoto caliphate.
In line with Newswatch house-styles,
the Editor-In-Chief did a short take on me in the Editorial Suite, a half page reserved for the EIC or, in his
absence, one of his lieutenants to whet the appetite of readers. After
commending me for what he said was a good outing, Ray Ekpu took one long look
at me and asked whether I was surprised at my being signed on by Newswatch.
‘No, sir!’ I blurted.
‘Our Ray of hope’, as many called
Ray Ekpu, Newswatch’s EIC, must have been pleasantly surprised by my
candour
Prior to Newswatch, I had actually
done some rudimentary writings for some local and international publications in
my undergraduate days in Zaria .
The trend continued during my days as a lecturer in Contemporary World History.
Though I was not a rookie in the real sense of the word, Newswatch, for very
obvious reasons, proved to be a different ball-game!
My midday
encounter with Ray was a replay of a similar one on the day I encountered the
three musketeers who interviewed me for the job 30 years ago. At issue was how
I was eased out of my former job, an account which provoked a general laugh.
Was it the laughable reasons given for my being eased out? Or was it the way it
was narrated? What struck me most was the conviviality that surrounded the
interview session. It was great to feel these Newswatch greats were not
spooks, after all!
I had actually applied for an
advertised position of deputy editor of Quality magazine, a soft-sell in the
Newswatch
group. But I guess the trio was impressed by my humble credentials. I had a
job, I was told, not with Quality but the highflying Newswatch.
Though, I was to get eased out of Newswatch, I guess the eight years I
spent remain the most exciting in my career in journalism. I have seen a
handful of newsrooms but Newswatch’s was unique!
One of the reasons Newswatch
was unique was that ‘the three musketeers’ regularly electrified the newsroom
with their presence. It was normal practice for any of them to drop a draft of
their column for the week on a reporter’s table with instructions to feel free
to raise objections! I witnessed it first hand in my first month. On the day,
Yakubu Muhammed breezed into the newsroom, wearing his trademark smile and
dropped a typed script on a vacant desk near mine. ‘Take this, my friend’, he nodded in my direction ‘and let me have your corrections!’ Boy!
Did I read that script! Of course, I did but what I did was no more than to
leaf through the three-page stuff. It was after the edition came out that I
went to apologise for failing to correct Juma
Rock for Zuma Rock! Yakubu must
have read my mind because he sat me down for a lecture on how not to feel
intimidated by people I supposed are better writers. Such pep talks help cub
reporters. It helped me!
Newsroom ethics at 62, Oregun Road were,
to say the least, superb. It provided a relaxed atmosphere for rookies to learn
the ropes in no time. Not even the tense atmosphere that characterised Thursday
productions took away the joy and benefit of working among
professionals. There were never dull moments in the newsroom even though
for most part of the week, reporters were out on the beat.
Newswatch newsroom turned into an imaginary
madhouse on Thursdays. It was the day deep-voiced Nosa Igiebor could be heard
calling for stories from reporters working frantically to beat deadlines. I got
to understand Nosa as an editor’s editor very early in the day; a very caring
and painstaking professional who could make the best reporter out of a dunce.
And he never failed to ask about the welfare of his reporters.
Each time Nosa breathed down a
reporter’s neck, he too must have been under some considerable pressure from
‘General’ Soji Akinrinnade, then general editor who regularly called for
reporters’ balls to be squeezed to get them to beat deadlines. Of course, Soji
himself would be under considerable pressure from Yakubu or Dan Agbese when
stories did not trickle in the way they should. It was typical of Nosa to
always protect the balls of his reporters from being squeezed!
At the end of what was a first
hectic year for me, Nosa took one long look at a report I had filed, then took
one long look at me, adjusted his glasses and smiled; this was not one of the
soul-lifting smiles he gave to a blundering reporter. ‘You know what?’ he
started with what I took to be a cross between a question and statement. ‘Go
fill your annual leave form; you have earned it!’ Nosa knew I had had a hectic
first year and needed the break to avoid a complete breakdown. That was Nosa!
For many who passed through 62, Oregun Road , Ikeja,
Lagos (Newswatch
later moved to Billings Way
in Oregun) the death of Newswatch is an end to a way of life. When the story of Newswatch
is finally told, its survival will not be attributed to some deep
pockets who financed the project.
Rather, the credit will go to its
management, made up of some of the finest editors around, who spurred and
motivated a committed staff to go the extra mile. Little wonder that, since Newswatch
finally took a dive, some former Newswatchers have indicated their
preparedness to restore those halcyon days of yore.
In deference to its mantra, Newswatch
was a way of life. It is no less so
even in death!
*Magaji is based in Abuja
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