By Lekan Otufodunrin

Friday, May 28, 2021, was the ninth anniversary of the death of the pioneer Coordinator of the Weekly Campus Life pull-out published in The Nation Newspapers, Ngozi Nwozor Agbo whose contribution to the development of campus journalism in the country is hard to forget.

While she coordinated the campus pages which attracted contributions from students in tertiary institutions nationwide, she was not only their editor but confidant and mentor who ensured that they excelled in their academic pursuits and other interests.

Aunty Ngozi as they fondly called her was the mother hen who shielded the students from harassments by school authorities that were not comfortable with some of their reports. She organized various training sessions for student journalists, along with awards for excellence.

The indisputable fact that Ngozi sacrificed so much as the coordinator of publication and invested time and resources in grooming the student writers is evident in the success most of them have recorded in their careers.

Many have maximized what they learnt from her and become accomplished professionals in all field of endeavours. Listening to some of them pay tributes to Ngozi during the lecture in her honour confirmed how well they appreciated the opportunity of their meeting her and the impact she made in their lives.

I remember the sleepless nights she spent producing the pages, reaching out to the contributors for one clarification or the other and travelling to the various campuses to attend some of the events they invited her for.

Campus Life was for her more than just a job and that explains why she went beyond the call of duty to get many things done for the impact we are seeing years after her death to be felt.

Before she started coordinating the Campus Life pages, Ngozi was one of the best young journalists I worked with.  She produced exclusive stories, insightful analysis and investigations that stood her out among her peers.

She later went to work with a Non-Governmental Organisation but returned to the newsroom where she had the opportunity of helping to mould the lives of the students and did not fail to take on the challenge.

As the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy who was the Editor of The Nation when Ngozi coordinated the Campus section, Mr Gbenga Omotoso testified, the deceased was very dedicated to her assignment and made the best of it.

I am glad that the beneficiaries of her sacrifice of love have thought it fit to have a foundation in her honour. The  Ngozi Nwozor-Agbo Initiative (NNAI) will further espouse the vision of Ngozi Agbo for the Nigerian youth and preserve her ideas and legacies.

The laudable objectives of the foundation will include the following:

• Build capacity amongst Nigerian youths in media and communications
• Create platforms of engagement for Nigerian youths with stakeholders through creative writing and other values that promote responsible citizenship and intervention in the national discourse
• Continually develop plans and strategies to sustain the ideas and legacy of Ngozi Agbo
• Work in partnership with other organizations and associations in promoting good governance and Nation Building
• Seek, identify and invest in areas of personal growth and development for members of the group/association.
• I commend the initiative and urge the officials of the foundation to work hard to realise the objectives which will go a long way in ensuring that the present generation of campus journalists have the benefit of the kind of support and more than Ngozi gave.

By  Lekan Otufodunrin

There is a Yoruba proverb which when translated means, every day for the thief, a day for the owner. Until they are caught, criminals usually devise various means to outwit the owner of whatever they are stealing.

Instead of backing off, repenting from their evil ways and sparing the owner of what they are stealing, there is always the temptation of doing it one more time until they are caught.

Some think they are so smart, have perfected their criminal acts and covered their tracks only for the long arm of the law to catch up with them when they least expect.

In a country like ours where anyone can just show up from nowhere and claim to be stupendously rich beyond comprehension, criminals have found a safe haven for their ill-gotten wealth.

They sneak their ways into the social circles and we start reading about socialites we never knew of. They dole out some money for philanthropic gestures and we are all grateful to the kind-hearted fellow from ‘Mars’

They launch businesses with wide publicity and are projected as returnees from abroad who are very patriotic by investing at home to provide employment and other opportunities for Nigerians. Even when some of the businesses they are investing in don’t make economic sense and it is apparent that they are laundering their loot, we give them the benefit of doubt. Shouldn’t we be happy that they are back to help sustain our almost comatose economy instead of asking questions about what we didn’t lose as my people will say.

Join politics, perhaps one of the most ‘legitimate’ ways to be reckoned with by those in power at all levels. They donate to parties, sponsor candidates, vie for office, get appointments and plot other shenanigans.

Read Also: From ‘Hushpuppi’ to Abidemi ‘Sandy Tang’

Some of them have been lucky to get elected into top political offices or appointed to protect themselves from possible prosecution if their past catches up with them.

The criminals I am talking about are not only those from abroad, we have the locally bred ones who dupe people or steal government funds meant for development projects and siphon them abroad into foreign accounts, while those who the money is supposed to benefit are languishing in the country.

The arrest of an aide of the Ogun State Governor, Abidemi Rufai who is charged in the United States with stealing more than $350,000 last year by filing fraudulent  unemployment claims with the Washington state Employment Security Department (ESD) using the identities of more than 100 Washingtonians is an example of how questionable the background of some personalities in and out of government are.

Although he is yet to be found guilty, it is doubtful if he would  completely come clean of the allegations. While he is here giving the impression that he is an accomplished businessman who has made his money legitimately abroad, the case against him does not suggest so.

Federal investigators reporters identified Rufai through a single Gmail account he used to file 102 claims for pandemic-related unemployment benefits from the ESD, as well as claims at programs in other states, according to the complaint.

He reminds us of Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi who contrary to the false image of a successful businessman  he was projecting on social media was involved with his gang of committing fraud amounting to 1.6 billion dirham (N168bn) and scamming 1, 926, 400 victims.

One can only hope that those still engaged in one criminal act or the other occupying top positions will learn from the experiences of those who have been caught. It’s up to them. If they don’t, sooner or later, they will be put where they rightly belong.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

I can’t remember the last time my birthday was on a Sunday, but today is one and I have chosen to write about myself. I thank God for the gift of life. I thank God for seeing me through the past 57 years as I journeyed through the various stages.

In a country where life expectancy is said to be 54-55 years, coupled with the challenges of being a Nigerian,  I cannot but be glad to be alive to testify to God’s grace. When I look back at the twists and turns of life, I have every cause to declare that God has been faithful to me.

I was born in a village, not many Nigerians will probably know, Imagbon in Odogbolu Local Government of Ogun State to the late Chief  Adebisi Japheth Otufodunrin and my mum, Jolade Racheal Otufodunrin ( nee Ekinsanya) where I spent my very early years before moving to Lagos.

In Lagos,  Somolu was the first place I attended primary school before relocating to the real Ajegunle city where I lived with my parents till it was time to proceed to secondary school in guess where? Christ Apostolic Grammar School (CAGS), Iperu, Remo. Not one of those grade A schools back then, but good enough to prepare me for what God has enabled me to become.

I have fond memories of living in Ajegunle where when I tell people I lived till after my national youth service, they claim I don’t look or speak like someone who did. Ajegunle was and is still a notorious city, but it has produced accomplished people with good guidance by parents and families like mine who did their best to ensure that one was not corrupted by the vices of the environment.

Read Also: Lalong: Birthday tribute to uncommon transformer @ 58

From CAGS where I had to re-write my West African School Certificate examination because my first attempt was not good enough and my father, who could not complete his final year in the same school due to financial reasons, was determined to ensure I get a university admission, I moved on to Government College Ibadan (GCI) for my Higher School Certificate (HSC).

I remember the embarrassment of my classmates coming to check the WASCE examination results we wrote together and seeing me in school uniform because my father swiftly ensured my return to avoid any distraction. My second attempt was fairly okay to get me admission into an Advanced Teachers College, but for my father, it must be a University.

With my father’s and mother’s support and counsel, I gave my HSC study all my all and by God’s grace getting direct admission into the University of Lagos to read Mass Communication was not difficult.

It was a GCI that I was first assigned an editorial position. I was editor of Swanston House Echo Magazine. My father indirectly prepared me to be interested in a media career through the copies of daily newspapers and weekly magazines he bought and left for me to read. I was also compelled to write summaries of some literature books he had in his library having worked in a bookshop.

As someone who had lived all my life in Lagos and Ogun, I desired national service far away from home and ended in the old Sokoto State ( No Kebbi, No Zamfara) where I was Information Officer and editor of NYSC Sokoto Newsletter and magazine. Camp in Bodinga, living in Sokoto town, travelling to Gusau, Kebbi and other towns was fun and lots of learning.

Between after my national service and now, I have devoted my life to being a journalist, working over 12 years in The Punch and the same number in The Nation, apart from some other media endeavours, especially training and mentoring of journalists. There is more to my life than being a journalist, but I dare say Journalism has been my life.  To God be all the glory.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

I once wrote in this column that I don’t envy top journalists and others who accept to be spokesmen for political officeholders. What being a spokesperson turns them to be not what they would easily admit publicly.

The job of the Media Adviser or whatever fancy titles they are given to make them feel important is most times to defend the indefensible. Your personal view does not matter. You have to blindly defend your principal, his appointees or anyone associated with him no matter how wrong he and any other person may have acted or what they have said.

Woe betide you if you try to take a moderate position on an issue your boss is under fire for. You will be lucky if you are not sacked and disgraced out of office without you being able to defend yourself.

This is why we find an otherwise top journalist like the  Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu defending the embattled Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami in a way he (Pantami) has not been bold enough to do.

Having admitted and supposedly renounced the extremist views he made in the past for which he has come under widespread criticisms and call for his resignation, Pantami has kept quiet and must have been hoping that his critics will probably get tired.

His untenable defence was that his controversial statements were based on his understanding of religious issues at the time he made them and that he has changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.

When cornered like he is now, fundamentalists like him can claim to have moderated their views, but no one should be deceived as it has been confirmed by some other revelations of his actions even in his present position.

Read Also: The ‘new improved’ Pantami

Shehu did not disappoint like he has done in the past when he takes on the task of speaking up on controversial cases like this instead of the Special Adviser who is supposed to be the lead spokesperson.

He claims that there is an unfortunate fashion in public discourse that makes leaders in politics, religion, and civil society liable in the present for every statement they have ever made in the past – no matter how long ago, and even after they have later rejected them.

Why should public office holders not be held accountable for statements they have made before which they should not have uttered, no matter how long? But for the shoddy screening by security agencies, the nominations of people like Pantami should not have been approved by the national assembly.

In a digital age, the evil that men and women do, do not live after them, they are haunted alive if the evils can be dug out like in Pantami’s case.

Contrary to Shehu’s claim, the call for Pantami’s resignation has nothing to do with any “Cancel Campaign” and manufactured dispute solely due to his present action, the minister is simply under censor for an absolutely unacceptable statement then which did not publicly renounce until he was exposed for the kind of person he really his.

Shehu makes it seems like Pantami is the first Communication Minister the country has and will be the last. The contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP has progressively been significant over the years and the false impression should not be given that but for Pantami, it would have been less.

What is at stake now is unguarded and unwarranted statements which should not have been uttered by anyone in the past or now. Unless people like Pantami are penalised, others like him who are still fanning the embers of hate based on false religious beliefs will not know that there is a consequence for their utterances.

By  Lekan Otufodunrin

The original title I had in mind for this piece was ” I’m Afraid”, but I don’t want to sound alarming, even though the one I opted for may alarm those who know me well about what I am about to confess.

For some time now, I have been very worried about the situation in the country and have written about it like many other columnists and commentators have been doing.

Unfortunately, my anxiety level keeps rising as whatever action is being taken by the government does not seem concrete enough to check our worrying slide to a state of anarchy. As I write this piece, our President is supposedly taking a short rest in London where he has gone for medical checkup when the Nigerians are caught in the web of crisis that has engulfed our country.

Resident doctors are on strike, Polytechnic lecturers are on strike, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities are threatening to resume their suspended strike apart from many other workers across the country who are protesting against one thing or the other.

More importantly, terrorists, bandits and militia attacks in parts of the country have not abated despite the best efforts of the military and other security agencies.

Kidnapping has gradually spread across the country and nowhere is really safe again. Anyone traveling these days does so unsure of their safety and until they return their family keeps praying that they will not receive calls from kidnappers demanding for ransom for their release.

I am so sacred these days that if possible, I will not step out of my house or travel anywhere, but that’s not possible. We all have to keep coping with the risky situations and just trust that we will not join the growing lists of victims of one of the many evils of the land which have left the citizens helpless.

All over the country there are daily reports of horrendous killings and destruction of property by known and faceless criminals who are not afraid of security agencies.

The burning down of prison and police stations in Imo State like during the ENDSARS riots is a confirmation of the breakdown of law and order which we may have to live with and pray that it doesn’t degenerate beyond the level it is now.

In Lagos where I live, I am very very worried about the continuous influx of motorcycle riders and other suspicious persons who are taking over many streets. They are as recklessness as they can be and get violent when they are called to order.

I am not sure what their agenda or that of whoever may be bringing them is, but the government must find a way of regulating their activities. They should not be allowed to become a major security risk before it is too late.

We can all pretend as if all well and keep praying that all will be well with us, but I must confess that like my people will say, “eru mba mi” ( I’m really scared).  There is so much uncertainty in the country that from all indications we are reaching a breaking point and we need to act urgently.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

I have always been worried seeing people, especially young ones who are graduates and still seeking employment making unguarded comments on issues they should rather keep their views to themselves on.  If they really have to say anything, it would be advisable if they are measured and avoid using words that may give a wrong impression about the kind of persons they are.

While some persons can choose to say whatever they like online and get away with it without the possibility of it being used against them for opportunities they may still need in their careers, my view has been that jumping into online discussions when there is no need to is not wise.

It’s a free world out there on the Internet, but there are consequences for those who abuse the freedom because of their indiscretion.

Last week, I saw a job seeker commenting on the controversy over the actual age of a well-known politician and using the word “polithieves.” I wanted to call him to order offline, but that was not the first time he was writing such things. He seems to enjoy the latitude the social media affords him to appear like a thought leader which he is far from being.

Read Also: How youths can optimise, social media, by Fed Govt

Even from some of the comments he gets on his posts, you can see readers noting the illogicality of some of his claims and sometimes correcting his grammar which is not good enough for someone seeking a media job.

So, instead of taking his time to be very sure of what he should comment on at his level and be mindful that his writings can be used to measure his capacity for the kind of job he is seeking, he indulges in unnecessary show of knowledge which he still needs to work on.

The guy is not alone, I see many others too, some of who get abusive in their choice of words and insult people they should not for whatever reason however wrong they are. While some persons might be hailing them for what they are writing, they seem to have forgotten that there are many others, who matter than the hailers who are noting and making judgement about the kind of persons they (the writers) are.

My worry about what the young man wrote inspired a tweet which, based on the engagements with it, I am happy indicates that many people understand the point I am making for restrain in what we write and share online.

“Social media gives you the false confidence that you can write what you like about people or organisations without caring whose ox is gored. Be careful young man and lady, you still have a long journey ahead of you. Your post says a lot about the kind person you are,” I tweeted.

Contrary to the claim by some persons that they are not their tweets, they are indeed what they are. Not only what they write, but what they share and like.

In an age when all employers have to do to find out the real personality of job seekers beyond the nice words they use to describe themselves in their curriculum vitae, is to search for information about them on Google and other search engines, it’s not wise having uncomplimentary online records that could mar their chances of getting opportunities they need.

I am not advocating against freedom expression, but my point is that there are times to comment and how to comment. There are times when silence is golden at a level in life.

There are people who have lost jobs and other opportunities because of what they wrote online.

Discretion is indeed the better part of valour.