The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lekan otufodunrin

  • ‘Enhance women’s rights to ensure development’

    ‘Enhance women’s rights to ensure development’

    A call has been made for the enhancement of women’s rights to ensure the development of mankind.

    Chairwoman of the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) Nam Hee Kim, made the call on March 8 in Seoul, South Korea at the event to mark the International Women’s Day.

    “If the most beautiful human beings do the most beautiful work, the work of peace, there is nothing more valuable than that,” Hee Kim said in her opening remarks.

    “When the loving heart and power of mothers are embedded in every woman’s heart, we will be able to make the greatest progress,” She stated.

    With IWPG at the forefront, she said the worldwide movement of women and youth will rise together to urge the implementation of the international law on the cessation of war and achievement of world peace.

    ​The event in Seoul began with a beautiful art performance of 50 multi-cultural female performers wearing their traditional clothes dancing to ‘Hand in Hand’, the official song of the 1988 Olympic Games, and ‘Arirang’, the Korean folk song most widely loved and sung.

    The performance expressed the unity of women transcending nationalities, ethnicities, and religions.

    3,000 women participants at the Yeouido Han River Park marched for peace and shouted, “SHE CAN. SHE CAN. SHE CAN. WORLD PEACE!”

  • The gift of life

    November 2, last year, I was preparing to go home from the office at about 7.30pm when I started feeling feverish. Within minutes I was shaking due to cold and only managed to drive home.

    Though I didn’t use any drug overnight, I felt a bit better in the morning but stayed back home to get some treatment. It was not until Wednesday morning that I went to the hospital.

    I was diagnosed of fever and was given drugs to use. By the weekend, it seemed I was getting over what initially appeared to be a simple illness but I had to return to the hospital for further checks when the pains in my heels did not subside.

    I was admitted for some tests to be sure of what the real ailment was and by the time the results were out after two days, the Medical Director immediately referred me for an urgent treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

    As I found out later, one of the results was so bad that the doctor couldn’t risk retaining me in his hospital. In case I didn’t have enough money on me, the director gave me N50,000 required for emergency admission in the Private Partnership Ward in LUTH if there was no bed space in the regular ward.

    As the director envisaged, there was no space for regular admission. I was given the option of staying in the car that brought me until a space could be found, or take the expensive emergency option.

    Thank God for the director, I had enough to pay for the N50,000 for 24hours stay in the emergency ward and was moved to the regular ward the next day.

    I ended up being on admission in LUTH for two weeks during which I underwent numerous tests and treatment. That I came out of LUTH is indeed the grace of God. Three patients died in the ward I stayed before I was discharged, while another, whose condition had improved and was waiting to be discharged, died a week after.

    The two weeks I was on admission in LUTH exposed me to the true state of our health system.

    At LUTH, which is supposed to be one of the best health institutions in the country, I witnessed the decay and inadequacy of facilities. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel were obviously overwhelmed by the number of patients they had to attend to. I remember the night two nurses in my ward slept off and it took more than ten minutes of loud banging of the door to wake them.

    The competence of some personnel is questionable as their prescriptions were openly overruled by superior officers. Who knows how many patients have died due to wrong diagnosis and treatment.

    Cost of drugs and tests required to keep many patients alive are prohibitive and some died because they could not afford to pay.

    Given the various limitations, it was obvious that it takes the grace of God for any patient to come out alive from LUTH and other health institutions in the country.

    Last Thursday, my clinic appointment to see the doctor at LUTH was extended for two weeks because there were too many others waiting to be attended to on the same day.

    Years of neglect, as President Muhammadu Buhari once noted in a coup speech, has turned our hospitals into consulting clinics. Hopefully, now that he is back in the saddle, he will do what is needed to improve on health delivery in the country.

    I thank God for the gift of life. Indeed, doctors and other personnel can try their best to care; only God can heal.

  • The Nation Online editor, others bag media merit award

    The Nation Online editor, others bag media merit award

    MR Lekan Otufodunrin, Managing/Online Editor, The Nation newspaper, shone brightest as he clinched the prestigious Bright Media Merit Award (Brimma) organised by publishers of Sparklight Magazine.

    Other awardees include: Pastor Kunle Ajayi, The Directorate of Music, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Rev. David Ibidun, District Head, Foursquare Gospel Church, Agege, Mr. Abayomi Oloko, Mrs. Oluyemisi Adesile, and among others.

    The event which held at the Staff School Auditorium, University of Lagos, penultimate Sunday was the 10th edition of the award which drew past awardees and other media practitioners from far and near at the Nigerian Union of Journalist Hall in Abeokuta, with a grand finale at Unilag.

    The event which was heralded by wonderful Christmas hymns to the admiration of crowds present.

    Various gospel artistes and instrumentalist performed at the event to appreciate God in the past ten years of continuous publication and successful lecture and award.

    In his remarks, the organiser, Tosin Adesile, while attributing the success of the awards to God’s divine mercies, also thanked those who have made the event a huge success thus far.

    He solicited for the support of Nigeria, urging the need for the encouragement of reading culture among the youths.

    According to him, “Buy magazine, newspapers and books to read. It will aid your intellectual development.”

    He also assured that Sparklight magazine will continue to improve on what it has to remain a leader in terms of celebrity magazine.

  • Toast to a good man @ 50

    Toast to a good man @ 50

    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.

  • Awards mean more work, Edun tells The Nation staff

    Awards mean more work, Edun tells The Nation staff

    •Board chair felicitates with the Newspaper of the Year

    The Nation, Nigeria’s “widest circulating newspaper” was the toast of the media, as it won six top awards from a record 15 nominations at the 21st NMMA at the serene Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort at the weekend.

    Edun was received by a team, led by Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh; Executive Director (Finance and Administration) Ade Odunewu; Editorial Board Chairman Sam Omatseye; Editor Gbenga Omotoso; and Online Editor Lekan Otufodunrin, among others.

    The other prizes won by The Nation were Editor of the Year, Capital Market Reporter of the Year, Money Market Reporter of the Year, Editorial Writing Prize and Power Reporter of the Year.

    This newspaper’s reporters were also finalists in categories, such as Columnist of the Year, Tourism Reporter of the Year, Human Rights Reporter of the Year, Telecoms Reporter of the Year, Oil and Gas Reporter of the Year, Investigative Reporter of the Year, Newspaper Reporter of the Year and Foreign News Reporter of the Year.

    Omotoso won the Dele Giwa Prize for Editor of the Year. The Editorial Board, which has won laurels for its editorials on critical issues, won the prize for Editorial Writing. Three of its editorials were finalists in the category. The winning entries were “Systemic rot”, “The real sacrifice” and “A time to clean the Augean stables.”

    Assistant Editor (News) Olukorede Yishau won the Intercontinental Bank Prize for Capital Market Reporter of the Year. Assistant Editor (Investigations) Joke Kujenya clinched the Peter Odili Prize for Power Reporter of the Year with her entry, “Why govt, workers quarrel over PHCN”, which gave rare insight into why workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the Federal Government were bickering over the agency’s privatisation.

    Senior Correspondent Collins Nweze won the UBA Prize for Money Market Reporter of the Year with his report, “National Assembly vs CBN.”

    Omotoso and Omatseye were finalists in the Columnist of the Year category.

    Serial award winner Olatunji Ololade was runner-up in three categories — Foreign News Reporter of the Year, Newspaper Reporter of the Year and Investigative Reporter of the Year.

    Assistant Editor Ozolua Uhakheme was runner-up in the Tourism Reporting category. Kunle Akinrinade was also a runner-up in the Human Rights Reporting category.

    Assistant Editor Lucas Ajanaku was runner-up in the Telecoms Reporter of the Year category. Also, Assistant Editor Emeka Ugwuanyi was a runner-up in the Oil and Gas Reporting category.

    Edun said the awards had placed more responsibility on the newspaper to do even better, adding that they mean more work by management and staff to surpass the achievements and remain the best.

    The one-time Lagos State commissioner for Finance said the honours the newspaper earned should not be one-off, but should be repeated next year and for many years to come.

    He cited the English football club, Manchester United, which won 20 league titles under its former coach, Alex Ferguson, but has been struggling this season under a new manager, David Moyes.

    Edun said many had started calling for the coach’s replacement although he had only been in charge for a short while.

    The implication is that having won multiple awards at NMMA, the efforts that yielded such reward must be sustained, he said.

    The chairman went on:”Let me use this opportunity to ask you to do what all successful companies, teams, groups, institutions do, which is that they use their success and the acknowledgement of their success as a springboard to re-commit themselves to what they are doing and to do even better, to go to even greater heights.

    “As we all know, you either keep growing, keep expanding and keep doing well or you fall back. “How long has Moyes been there and they are already calling for his head? That is because once you get used to success, you have to maintain it. So, well done.”

    Edun assured the management team and staff of the board’s backing and commitment towards making the newspaper the best.

    He said newspapers were important to the democratic process, adding: “We have a mandate to enhance democracy; we are fulfilling it. To do this, you must have commercial visibility. This recognition will enhance our commercial visibility so that we can continue to deliver on our mission. It is the paper to advertise in because we have the reach, the spread and the readership.”

    He said he was always proud of The Nation team of columnists, editors and reporters and prayed to God to guide them.

    On welfare, he said: “You have done your best; we will do ours. It is a wonderful Christmas.”

    Odunewu described the Newspaper of the Year as a thing of joy, saying: “It is the reward of hardwork.”

  • ‘It’s unfair not to honour authors of the national anthem’

    ‘It’s unfair not to honour authors of the national anthem’

    Professor Babatunde Ogunnaike, Dean, College of Engineering, University of Delaware, USA, is one of the five authors of the national anthem who have remained unacknowledged for their work. In continuation of our series on the writers of the words of the anthem, Prof Ogunnaike, a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering , in this interview with Lekan Otufodunrin recalls his involvement in the writing of the, anthem and the state of the nation.

    Can you recall your involvement in contributing to the national anthem?

    I recall being on my national service (NYSC) in 1977 (in Port Harcourt) when the announcement came out for contributions to the new National Anthem. And I recall reading some of the submissions because they were then routinely published in the Evening Times (this was the evening version of the Daily Times).

    I recall thinking that I might be able to submit something that might be just as good, if not better, than the ones I had read.  So I did.

    What lines of the national anthem are yours?

    I believe that most of the second verse of the national anthem (if not the entire thing itself) was the second verse of the poem that I submitted.  My first verse had a line similar to “The labours of our heroes past” which ended up in the anthem; I am also sure that many of the other submissions had lines similar to this one.

    I think that my line emphasised “sacrifice” instead of labour and I don’t think I used heroes. I do not have the original submission with me, alas; and that was some 36 years ago now, so it is difficult for me to recall precisely what was in the first verse.

    What informed your composition?

    A sense that Nigeria had a lot of potential that was untapped; and that we needed good and selfless leadership; and that with divine guidance and dedication to national progress, we can become a great nation.

    Were you compensated or acknowledged in any way for your contribution?

    A telegram was sent to my home address in Ibadan, but I had left for graduate school in the United States by the time it arrived.  My father forwarded a copy to me.  I did not receive any compensation.

    Has the country been fair to the authors of the anthem by not honouring them with a national award like it did to the composer of the music, the late Pa Odiase?

    Of course it is unfair not to honour someone for such major contributions.

    What should be done about honouring you and other co-authors?

    I am not sure what should be done, but most other nations acknowledge the authors of their national anthem in some way or other.  I have lived in the US now for about 25 years and everyone knows that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the national anthem (even I, a recent immigrant, know this). At the very least, the people of Nigeria should be told who wrote their national anthem.

    You were quoted in a previous interview that you usually feel a sense of pride and sadness when you hear the national anthem.  Can you expatiate on this?

    A sense of pride to have been involved in writing the words, but sadness because 50-something years after independence we still have not realised even the very basic aspects of what a modern nation should be. That is sad.

    The message of the national anthem seems not to have been imbibed by Nigerians, how can this be done?

    That takes leadership modelling for the nation what our collective values should be; it takes parents modelling it to their children, and elders in the villages showing examples to the younger folks. People who take pride in their nation, people who have reason to be proud of their nation, are often inspired by the lyrics of their national anthem.  People who are struggling to put food on the table; who feel like their leaders do not care about them; who are disconnected from the fabric of society—such people have no time to imbibe any message in any anthem—they are too busy with the task of surviving.

    Why has the country not been able to accomplish the dreams of our founding fathers considering the abundant resources we have?

    This is very simple: extremely poor—and incredibly selfish—leadership.  It is not “politically correct” to say this, but we have not been blessed with inspirational or selfless leaders with vision and the moral strength and courage not only to do the right thing, but also to challenge the nation to be the best that it can be.

    Our leaders have mostly failed miserably. The only leader that was anything close to being inspirational was Murtala Mohammed and he was gunned down before he could do much.

    You and Dr Sota, a co-author of the national anthem, are among many accomplished Nigerians outside the country. How we can limit the high rate of the brain drain we have been experiencing?

    You may or may not know this, but I lived and worked in Nigeria from 1982 to 1988 as an assistant professor at the University of Lagos.  I had to leave in 1988 when I could no longer support my family!  The salary of a senior lecturer was paltry; I was not corrupt; I don’t know how to sell cement and rice—the only thing I knew how to do was to teach and do research.

    I could not do any of that and still make a living in Nigeria at the time.  I had no option but to leave if I wanted a decent life for my children. In addition, the entire system (people in the customs, and the police, NEPA, tax office, even the banks)  all made life difficult.  I couldn’t clear my things through the customs after I arrived because everyone wanted a bribe, but I was a poor graduate student coming back home after finishing my PhD.

    The entire Nigerian system is hostile to people like us.  Not sure what else can be done, but if Nigeria wants people to stay (and many of us truly want to be in Nigeria), perhaps some of these artificial barriers can be removed.

    Also, it is difficult to function in a country where there is no rule of law, and where the government is essentially not very competent.  I do not want to go on complaining about the government, but it really has a significant role to play in keeping its resources at home instead of literally forcing them away (as they did for many of us).

    Tell me more about yourself and your involvement back home.

    I come back to Nigeria as often as I can, mostly to help with a relatively new World-Bank sponsored University in Abuja (The African University of Science and Technology). I am now involved with the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, having been fortunate enough to have been inducted with the class of 2012.

    I love Nigeria and would love nothing more than to be able to put something back into the system that gave me a great foundation.  It pains me that I can be successful in another country and do many things for that country, but I do not have much of an opportunity to do the same for my own country of birth.  I am grateful to the US for providing me the opportunity to study for my PhD here, and in a sense, it is proper for me also to put something back into the US system for what they gave to me.

    But I would also love the opportunity to be able to do the same for my country of birth, where my education foundation was laid.  I just do not want to have to sacrifice my family in the process.

     

  • ‘I contributed the most to the wordings of national anthem’

    ‘I contributed the most to the wordings of national anthem’

    Following the publication of our recent interview with one of the five composers of the national anthem, Dr Sota Omoigui, now a consultant anesthesiologist and pain specialist in the United States of America, Elder Philips Olusegun Aderibigbe, the author of four lines of the anthem, called at our office last week. Aderibigbe, a former employee of the National Assembly, explained his part in the composition of the anthem, lamenting the failure of the Federal Government to fulfill its pledge to compensate him and his co-authors. He spoke with LEKAN OTUFODUNRIN and JUSTICE ILEVBARE.

    How did you become involved in the composition of the national anthem?

    In 1976, Nigeria was just recovering from a gruesome civil war. The Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo-led military administration called for the composition of a new national anthem. The national policy committee on the draft constitution on return to civilian rule then announced a national anthem competition. At that time, I was a 100 level undergraduate student of the University of Ibadan.

    The national policy committee received about 1,499 entries from Nigerians. The entries were sent to the department of English in five Nigerian universities. It was from these entries that the best five were picked and the lines of the national anthem were selected from them.

    I wrote the first line of the anthem: “Arise o compatriots”. The original draft, as was typed in 1976-77, is available for anybody to see. Other writers were John A. Ikechukwu, Eme Etim Akpan, B. A. Ogunnaike, Dr. Omoigui and I, Philips Olusegun Aderibigbe. The military administration said they were going to pay some honorarium to the writers, but up till now, nothing has been done. Even the music of the anthem, as composed by the late Pa Odiase, was sung without us being invited. And it is regrettable that up till today, there has been no acknowledgement.

    Since five of you composed the wordings of the national anthem, why was the Late Pa Odiase described as the composer until he died recently. Was he the person that merged the various contributions?

    There seems to be lack of information in this country, and we do not even know our background very well. For your information, Pa Odiase was just the band master of the police band. The anthem was given to the police band, which Pa Odiase just happened to be the leader at that time. The wordings of the anthem were written by five Nigerians, out of which the best were selected, like I mentioned earlier.

    You said that no honorarium has been paid and no acknowledgement has been given? Why did it take you so long to speak on the issue? What have the five of you done to claim the ownership of the anthem? Has there been any time you met?

    There was no way for us to meet, because we were from different locations. There was no time they invited us together. I am here because I saw the interview with Dr. Omoigui. At that time, the office of this committee was at the Independent building in Race Course, Lagos. After some time, they packed out of the office, and when we went there to see the officers in charge, we were told that they had relocated. So, it was difficult to see anybody concerning it.

    What other effort did you make?

    I wrote a personal letter to the Federal Ministry of Education then, complaining that we were the writers of the anthem. We are not talking about music but the wordings of the anthem. The composition is an intellectual property. Up till today, they have not acknowledged the ownership of that intellectual property.

    At the point of asking for entries, was there any particular promise in form of a prize?

    There was none. But after the composition, they said the Federal Government of Nigeria was going to pay a marginal honorarium to the composers. But that has not been done till today.

    You composed the lines, ‘Arise o compatriots, Nigeria call obey… The labour of our heroes past, Shall never be in vain.’ What did you have in mind when you wrote these lines?

    It was simply patriotism. Nigeria had gone through so many negative experiences. Right from 1953, there was the Kano riot, during which so many lives were lost. There was the 1962/63 political crisis in the West. There was the census crisis in 1965 and so many lives were lost. There was mismanagement; in fact the military said the reason why they came into power in 1966 was mismanagement, corruption and ineptitude.

    Things were upside down. And so, when we had that challenge, I rose. I said okay, Nigeria has to come back and readdress itself to some new situations. So, I wrote that lineArise. Arise from decay, from misgovernment, from corruption, O ye compatriots. That was the message in the anthem. Patriotism is the principle of the anthem. In fact, if anybody asks me to mention the problem in Nigeria today, I would say it is lack of patriotism.

    Do you think we have been true to the national anthem?

    The problem is that there was no orientation at all when the national anthem was introduced. They brought the composition to Nigerians, but the federation did not buy the idea. There was no education. In fact, one would expect that based on the message drawn from an anthem, there will be an orientation to follow; there will be training; there will be dedication; there will be organisation to follow. But nothing like that was done. They just took the work, gave it to somebody to turn into music, and there was no orientation. So, up till today, patriotism is lacking in this country. And what is the root cause of corruption? It is lack of patriotism.

    As far as I am concerned, if anybody is stealing government money, it is because he is not patriotic. If there is misgovernment, it is because there is no patriotism. If there is mismanagement, it is because there is no patriotism. Look at the countries that are well run in the world today, they are all patriotic countries. America is on the lead today because the citizens are patriotic, the government is patriotic and an American life is very dear to the government of America. They can do anything to save the life of an American because they know the government cares for them.

    So let’s go back to patriotism. And I am suggesting that there should be a lot of awareness concerning patriotism. Even what is happening in the north now is as a result of lack of patriotism.

    What kind of feeling do you have when you hear the national anthem?

    I feel very happy because it says arise. Arise means that if you have been sitting down before, rise up. If you have been down before, get up, stand up! To defend is to fight, to struggle and make Nigeria a great nation. As at the time I was writing this composition, Nigeria was at the same level with countries like China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil. Look at the positions of these countries today. Nigeria was at par with them, but those countries have gone ahead of Nigeria because of lack of patriotism.

    Do you agree with those who say some parts of the national anthem should be changed?

    I don’t. The anthem of the nation is the culture of the nation, the set of beliefs, the principles, and so on. Nobody who knows what he is doing would say that the anthem should be changed. What is to be changed there? Is it that we are not arising again? What do you want to change in that? Is it that patriotism is not good? Many people are talking of the anthem in terms of the music. How many Nigerians even know what the anthem is saying? How many have the wordings in their memory? How many of them know the meaning of the anthem? How many of us are obeying the call of the nation today? That is the problem.

    So if they know what the anthem is saying, they would call for more dedication, more orientation and more awareness rather than say the anthem should be changed.

    I’m intrigued by the line “The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain”. It would seem that the labour of our heroes is already heading towards vanit…

    It has happened and it will continue to happen. Nigerians don’t even know their heroes. We know names of corrupt officers. We know of very important people who have looted the treasury. We know the names of those who have bastardised our economy. We know about those who have looted the national treasury. But we don’t know the heroes that we have, and that is one of the problems of this country.

    A country must know her heroes. Look at Ghana, people are still talking about Kwame Nkrumah till tomorrow. Look at Rawlings, people are still talking about him till tomorrow. Look at Nelson Mandela who is sick nowmay God heal him. Nobody talks ill about him. He is a patriot. Patriots and leaders we can gain from are in this county. We have heroes in this country, but we don’t know our heroes.

    Your co-composer, Omoigui, says he looks forward to the day they would bring together those who composed the messages. Do you see this happening soon?

    Who would bring them together when they don’t know their heroes?

    But is it something you would love if it happens?

    Yes. In fact, I thought that before the anthem was sung for the first time, we should have met. But they did not make it possible. Now it is even more difficult because Omoigui is abroad now, I’m in Nigeria, and I don’t know the other three. I’m only praying that none of them has died. These are our heroes; they are dying without being honoured.

    What is your own definition of patriotism?

    My definition of patriotism is great, undiluted support for the nation; standing to fight for the nation. The Spartans in the Greek states brought up their children with training modelled along support for the nation. They would fight and not allow anything that can bring the nation down to happen. So, they see themselves first for the nation than for themselves, their family, their ethnic background or their place of origin. That is patriotism. In fact, the act of patriotism is even stronger in my heart now than when I wrote it.

    There are Nigerians who say they can’t die for this country. Do you think Nigeria is worth dying for?

    Nigeria is worth dying for if we are all ready. If we are all patriotic, Nigeria would be worth dying for. But if we are not patriotic, well, that is when the issue comes. Look at China; they would not allow anything to mess up their economy. America would not allow its country to be bastardised. Korea would protect its interest. So, Nigeria is worth dying for. Why not? The country of my birth is worth dying for.

    But the country also must die for its people. If we are ready to die for the country, the country also must be ready to die for its people. The American government can spend billions of dollars to rescue the life of a single American. And if an American knows that the country is ready to die for him, he can die for his country too. Patriotism is a whole system on which we should start to educate Nigerians now. As far as I am concerned, even indiscipline is lack of patriotism.

    When you were composing the anthem, you had the unity of Nigeria in mind. What is your take on the call for national conference?

    I have my own personal opinion concerning the national conference, but I’m not in support of the break-up of Nigeria. I have a feeling that Nigeria is meant to bring us together. If you see the resources in Nigeria, the way God has positioned the resources in Nigeria and left them in different places, you will see that God has made us to be together and to substitute for one another.

    But let me go back to my point: it is mismanagement and lack of patriotism that has made things to be like that. I remember a time I had to serve in Sokoto; I was in Sokoto for months without any fear of molestation. Nigerians were together then. You could travel to the North and East without any fear. How did it now generate to this level? So it’s not that Nigeria is not worth dying for, its management and wrong leadership. Nigeria is a very good business. Somebody said Nigeria is a good business in the hands of bad managers.

    Do you think Nigeria will ever get to the promise land?

    Why not, if we return to the basics? Let patriotism be taught in schools. Let people know the meaning of patriotism. Let it be a topic in schools. It must start from the top. Recently, some people were talking about jumbo pay for public officers. About 43 per cent of the nation’s total income is spent on the payment of legislators and government. 80 per cent is spent on running the government. If the amount of money taken from the Nigerian economy is taken from the British economy, it will collapse.

    Have you ever been acknowledged as one of the composers of the national anthem?

    Yes. But by only those who are close to me. When those in my hall, Nnamdi Azikwe Hall of the University of Ibadan, heard that I was the writer of the line ‘Arise o compatriots’, there was wild jubilation at the JCR Hall in 1978. Some newspapers also wrote that I and four others were the writers of the anthem.

    The government must acknowledge the writers of the anthem. We are not asking for money but for respect and honour. I composed four lines of the anthem, so I’m the major writer of the anthem.

  • Impact-driven journalism

    Impact-driven journalism

    The first ever Impact Journalism Day- a unique project involving 20 leading newspapers across the world publishing dedicated sections packed with creative solutions to global issues on the same day- was marked on Saturday.

    The project, initiated by Sparknews in collaboration with media partners, seeks to kick start change in the way we think of news and newspapers. It promotes reporting of the best, smartest initiatives, with the hope of inspiring others to replicate, innovate and communicate the ideas to others.

    The Nation is proud to be one of the media partners for the project, which I consider very thoughtful considering the need for the media to more than ever before seek to make more impact in the lives of their audience.

    With the global economic crisis, many are in search of solutions to the various challenges they have to cope with. Living has become tougher in not only underdeveloped nations but also in developing and developed nations. Unemployment is on the rise, poverty is growing, more diseases are emerging, environmental degradation is worsening and terrorism is spreading worldwide among others problems.

    In the midst of the bleak situation, readers as Christian de Boisredon, founder of Sparknews rightly puts it, are hungry for stories with a difference. He says they want “stories that bring hope and concrete solutions, at both local and global level. They are looking for signs of change they can identify with. Change that will make them think…and act”.

    The media undoubtedly has immense capacity to influence their audience and have been doing so through fulfilling its educating, informing and entertaining functions. It’s difficult to imagine life without the mass media, which beyond the traditional print and electronic medium now include the online platforms.

    We really live in troubled times in which the media should be interested in helping to provide solutions. We have to move from just telling stories and highlighting problems to providing concrete solutions. Journalism for journalism sake cannot serve the present generation of readers who have found themselves in desperate situations requiring urgent ideas about how to survive.

    With the media not been immune from the economic crisis, the temptation for the media will be to be more ‘business like’ and focus on issues that could sell their papers and not salient issues their readers want to read about. While media owners should be concerned about their survival they must now fail in their social responsibility to the readers.

    Journalism must impact on the lives of the people or else it will become irrelevant. Journalists must make a conscious effort to identify the challenges in their community and contribute to solving them.

    Journalists should be concerned about the positive impact of their work through feedbacks from their audience.

    Readers need hope to believe that tomorrow will come. They need to be inspired to know that they can overcome whatever challenges they are going through presently. They need to be encouraged to maximize their potentials.

    With the world now being truly a global village, thanks to the Internet, there is the opportunity to seek and share solutions to global issues. The Impact Journalism Day should serve as a reminder for journalists to make the world a better place through their publications.