At a time when sycophancy and bootlicking have become full time jobs in the media, it is difficult to talk about a man such as Lekan Otufodunrin without being mistaken for a jobber in search of his next meal ticket.
The probability is high that someone somewhere would read this and conclude like most people do these days, that whoever penned such lofty things about another man must have gotten some pecuniary inducement or expecting something that can only be provided by the man he has written about.
But regardless of what anyone would think after reading this, I am persuaded that those who have been privileged to meet Otufodunrin would at least concur that everything said about him in this piece is nothing but the truth.
As a matter of fact, it would be a travesty to write about him without sounding like brownnoser in a king’s palace. One cannot but deploy the best adjectives (which may still be grossly inadequate) to describe a man who has devoted a better part of his young life to discovering and mentoring young people in order to make their lives better.
Personally, I owe my becoming a journalist to “Uncle Lekan” as many of us who have passed through his informal school of mentoring love to call him. It was under his tutelage as the Sunday Editor of The Nation Newspaper that I cut my teeth in this pen-pushing profession.
Many of the things I have achieved in the few years that I have practiced would not have been if this man did not take a chance on me that hot Sunday afternoon when our paths crossed at the headquarters of the Living Faith Church, Ota.
I met Uncle Lekan at the church’s Press and Publicity Department where I had just been registered as a volunteer writer. Since I didn’t see him anywhere around the office on my first visit, I had no idea he was the chairman of the department.
Looking back to that fateful day, I have no regrets for mistaking him as an ordinary member like myself. He didn’t have the airs of a chairman and his down-to-earth interaction with everyone in the room that day was not what one expected from the chairman of such an important group in a Nigerian church. You can imagine the surprise that registered on my face when a member announced that: “our chairman has just donated a new printer” and pointed at him.
Such is the humility of the man. It is that humility coupled with a heartfelt sincerity to make enduring positive impacts in the lives of others that endears Uncle Lekan to so many people.
In my case, that chanced meeting with this modest chairman of the Press and Publicity Unit in the church set my journalism career on an upward trajectory. Like he still does for so many young people today, Uncle Lekan offered me an opportunity to work with him on the Sunday desk even as a greenhorn. Through an informal but meticulous process, he groomed me into an award- winning young journalist. As an undergraduate, I was light years ahead of my contemporaries just because he gave me a chance to do what they only read in textbooks.
As an editor, Uncle Lekan would go out of his way to ensure that an intern is accepted in the newsroom. Unlike others who see such interns as errand boys and girls, he keeps them on track by ensuring they have something to do. He is one of the few editors who will ask an intern “how many stories have you written?”
Other than his humility and fervid passion to help young people navigate out of the labyrinths of life and the journalism profession, you cannot talk about Uncle Lekan without saying a few things about his large heart and bonhomie way of life. Here is one man who is never tired of giving. I have known him for years now and I still cannot recall ever seeing or hearing him say no to anyone who approached him for help.
As Sunday editor, he made it a duty to ensure that everyone on the desk got something from the gifts given to him at the end of the year. In the same organization, where some units heads stock their cars with bags of rice, hampers and other goodies, Uncle Lekan would gladly share his with workers on the desk, security officers and other have-nots.
Every human being has a weakness. Uncle Lekan’s weakness is his selflessness and dedication to the progress of other people. He is one of the few people in his ilk who will drive for hours to deliver a lecture to secondary school, polytechnic and university students without asking for a penny. When these students visit The Nation Newspaper on excursion, he also takes his time to conduct them round the premises and explain the newspaper making process to them.
With these exceptional qualities, it is no surprise that his office is decorated with several awards from various individuals and groups who have been touched my wonderful life.
As he joins the league of the fifties, it is my prayer that God who has kept him thus far will make his glorious life more beautiful. Happy birthday.
•Nzemeke writes from Utako, Abuja.
