Emeka Obasi and Ndigbo
August 27, the day I read in the national dailies, that Prince Emeka Obasi had sold his National Mirror newspapers to Jimoh Ibrahim will go down as one of my most depressing days as a Nigerian journalist of Igbo origin. When I first saw the promo of the story on the front page of Vanguard, I had a little hope that Obasi must still have some shares, I thought he would still be managing it. So, I quickly read the story. As I did, my mouth turned dry, and my anger and frustration went sky high. Ibrahim acquired the National Mirror, a paper with so much promise, a paper with fire spewing from its belly, but which unfortunately is grossly under-funded, 100 per cent. Reading excerpts from the press statement issued by my brother Emeka, announcing the acquisition of his baby by Ibrahim, I felt for him. My first instinct was to call him, but I didn’t want to sound emotional while talking to him. So, instead, I called Victor, the editor of this magazine. And like me, he was stung by the 100 per cent acquisition. Where were Ndigbo?, we asked in unison.
Emeka and I are from the South east. So, often, we share our frustrations over the attitude of Ndigbo to the media, especially those owned by their own people. We look at our people, especially our leaders, the governors and our billionaires, and we shrug our shoulders. At every meeting of the Igbo, precious time is spent screaming about how they are being marginalised by successive governments.Precious time is spent discussing what they would do in the areas of the media, education and industrialisation. It is like a secular sermon. But all the talks are empty. Ndigbo, especially the elite, will never appreciate or patronise their own. They never invest in their own. They would always give financial and moral backing to others but their own. Only about two or three of them think otherwise. For the others, when they give you one page of advert, they would have given others 20 pages or more. What they pay for in other medium, they send to you to publish free for them. Yet when there is a problem, they would quickly remember they have publishers of Igbo origin.
I don’t know how it was with Obasi. But in the 11-year-old history of this magazine, I can talk of only one Igbo man who had, without being asked or prompted, gives it both moral and financial support. Every other help has come from non-Igbo.
When I think of what the leaders of the South south and the South west have done for their people in the media, I just shake my head at the South east. When I think of how those two zones, and now, the North, have used the media to push the cause of their people, I wonder about the Igbo. When I think of what the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu did for his people – two solid newspapers, controlling shares in a newsmagazine, I just wonder about his colleagues in my zone. When I think of former Governor James Ibori and his newspaper, I wonder at our people. When I think of Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, I wonder at our people. The only exception is the former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.
Even when it comes to patronage, it is rare for the governors in the South east to patronise their own. Indeed, when you introduce them to your colleagues in the other media houses in a bid to help them, they quickly prefer to patronise them only. Yours? It is charity work you are doing. They spend millions in every other media houses but those owned by their own. No advertisements, nothing. Indeed, when they reluctantly give you two pages, they would never pay.
One of them who has been spending millions of Naira on the media, and only recently gave a newsmagazine the sum of five million naira to produce his story in colour so it can be taken to the World Igbo Conference in America is owing The Source, for over seven months now, the sum of N600,000! The exceptions are the governors of Abia and Anambra States, Chief Theodore Orji and Peter Obi, who see to it that any advert, or supplement, given to others must be given to media houses owned by the Igbo.
This other day when Ndigbo Lagos sent me a subscription form to subscribe to the magazine that it publishes, I couldn’t stop laughing. The first question the staff here asked me was: “Those advertisements that Ndigbo Lagos give out once in a while, has our magazine been given even one page?”
I am not speaking for Emeka Obasi. But I just wonder if he could have sold his Newspaper if he was receiving any form of support or patronage from his people, Ndigbo. Only he can answer that. It is in a bid to make perhaps, his feelings, thoughts, and what he, and well, us, went through, are going through, that we re-publish hereunder, a write-up he published in his first newspaper, the defunct Hallmark Newspaper.. Enjoy.
– Comfort Obi
What Kind of People Are These
– Irukwu, Nwodo, Omeruah & Co?
By Emeka Obasi
About three years ago, I
was sitting in my office
minding my business when my phone rang. It was the managing director of one of the fast growing new generation banks on the line. Now, this guy is one of the young corporate leaders I admire for his hardwork, enterprise and ambition. He wanted us to meet for a discussion. I agreed. So we met and he presented his pitch.
A group of Igbos had met and agreed to set-up a holding company. The objectives of the company, as he outlined them, were to acquire shares from the companies being privatised in the on-going privatisation programme, invest in critical sectors of the economy where Igbo presence is currently minimal, like publishing and educational institutions and generally, act as a catalyst in the development of the South east given the lack of adequate Federal Government presence in the zone. These were very exciting, so I accepted to be involved. We used to meet in the palatial Ikoyi home of transport magnate, Chief Chidi Anyaegbu. His wonderful wife provided sumptuous meals and choice drinks and considering that I was a bachelor at the time, the meetings served me quite well. So, what was the outcome? Just wait, I will tell you. The cast of Igbo elites were involved under the leadership of Professor Joe Irukwu. Then a company was incorporated. Solid Foundation Limited, if I remember correctly. Since I was specifically mandated to reach out to many people and invite them to join. I tried my best. However, I remember clearly that two individuals, Mrs. Patricia Nwobodo and Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh held a different view. After one meeting, Mrs. Nwobodo stopped attending. But Stan told me clearly that the project would not work. “Emeka, stop kidding yourself. I know all those people; they are not serious.”
I refused to listen to him. Why would top businessmen, company executives, retired generals and other assorted professionals not be serious? I wondered. I was soon to find out. After some money had been collected, they decided to set up a magazine. Some people demurred. “How can we start with a magazine now, considering the expenses involved? Let us invest in other projects first and use the revenue to start a magazine subsequently,” they argued. But others insisted. At that point, I had to take a position. After all, this was territory. I pleaded with them not to start a magazine or newspaper. It is too capital intensive and I did not see in any one of them the requisite passion and commitment to make such a venture successful. Rather than start a new publication, I asked that they should acquire shares in an existing publication like Comfort Obi’s The Source magazine. Comfort is a hardworking and thorough professional. Her magazine is doing very well, all it requires is money to really stabilise. I didn’t talk of this newspaper, so that they won’t accuse me of bias or vested interest. But they wouldn’t listen. I remember Professor Irukwu insisting that a new publication was required to assist in promoting Igbo causes and interests. “But what of the existing publications, can’t we do anything to strengthen them?” I can’t remember his answer now.
I tried to reason with other members of the team in private. People like Mrs. Joy Udensi, Annie Okonkwo, Nnia Nwodo, Charles Odunukwe, Tony Elumelu, etc. But they all had so much confidence in the duo of Emeka Omeruah and Joe Irukwu, to listen. Nwadiuto Iwuanyanwu was also a member. She understood clearly what I meant, given her experience as a Director of Champion newspapers. Both of us agreed that the money they were investing in the magazine would be wasted. But they went ahead and started one magazine called National Star. Predictably, it packed up within six months. But last week, they called together some people to launch the magazine and raise funds to return it to the newsstands. If my information is right, only about N1.5 million was realised. At today’s cost, it will finance only three editions of the magazine, without staff salaries and other expenses.
Why am I recalling this story? It is to show once again the shamelessness of many so-called Igbo leaders, their enduring inability to link up with their own people and inexcusable refusal to appreciate the dynamics of power in their own country.
Is it not laughable that such a high profile of Igbos – all of them dollar millionaires – cannot finance a successful magazine? What does it say about them and their commitment to issues? When the Yorubas felt that they needed a counterpoise to The Guardian, they raised hundreds of million of naira and today, The Comet newspapers may not have attained its full potentials, but it is still out there holding its ground.
When we were young, we used to look up to the Omeruahs, the Nwodos, and the Irukwus etc as the hope of our people. But having grown up and met many of them, I think I know better. Something is deeply wrong with them! They are too timid, too self-centred, too ensconced in their own world to fight for anybody, not to talk of being anybody’s hero. For them to start a magazine, even when Examiner, Hallmark and The Source were in dire need of funds, demonstrates vividly the trouble with them and their people. In 2000 Hallmark already had three editions in the market. All we required was a little funding to go daily. The Examiner was already a daily newspaper; a little funding would have stabilised it. But today, it has closed down.
Comfort is still struggling with The Source magazine. Often people ask me, where are the Igbo millionaires? Of course they are busy trading with their money, which is their right at any rate. But after making all the money, so what next? What is money compared to power and what is power without the ability to influence public opinion? With his ThisDay newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena wields more influence than 100 Igbo millionaires put together. Our people’s refusal to invest in intellectual property is one of the greatest causes of their problems today. It is sad and disheartening that those who ordinarily should know, men like Nnia Nwodo, Omeruah and Joe Irukwu, etc are the ones acting so shockingly.
Last week, when Irukwu’s fund-raising event flopped. I was happy and I told Mrs Joy Udensi so! It is shameful that they could even think of organising a fund-raising to finance a Limited Liability Company. It is not Emeka Obasi or members of my generation they are disgracing; it is themselves, shameless people!
Culled from the defunct Hallmark Newspaper edition dated December 11, 2002.