Charles Okogene
I have tried to write this story about these two incredibly, wonderful Nigerians long ago but each time I try, I develop cold feet or is it ‘cold finger’. Whatever it is, I have broken the jinx today.
One of them, an Igbo woman who is dead now; may her soul continue to rest in peace. The other person, a Yoruba, Temitope Carter Ajayi, from Ekiti State, is still alive and kicking; in fact, God has been empowering him in his profession and today, he is one of the media aides of legitimately elected president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed TINUBU.
In all my trips with African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), he facilitated them by including my name among those entertainment writers experienced enough to undertake the trip while the other person, the late Peace Ayim-Osigwe, the founder of AMAA, picked the bill. It may interest you, folks, to know that it was the same Ajayi, that made it possible for me to interview peace’s elder brother who died in a motor accident at Okada village, in Edo State.
I had known Mr, Temitope Carter Ajayi right from his days as a rookie reporter with The Punch through his days at SoulCom, a PR outfit to when he did some stuffs with the immediate past presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adeshina; so you can see that our relationship, transcends tribe, religion or political affiliations but built on professional bonding contrary to what some people I will not name, thinks. We have come a long way, ‘e don tey jare! ‘
The first trip he facilitated for me on AMAA account, was my coverage of the movie award in Bayelsa State, the birth home of AMAA, in the days of Senator Seriake Dickson, the white shake. A very wonderful outing that also included my friend, Sony Neme.
The following year, he slotted my name among those that will accompany AMAA to Ghana for it’s pre-AMAA party. Then I had become the editor of Saturday Independent. I was on this trip with Hazeez Balogun, that has now ‘japaed’ to America. Again, it was another ‘banger. ‘
And as if to say thank you for a job well done, my name surfaced again among journalists that attended the pre-AMAA award party in Malawi. I was there with the likes of Ben Njoku of Vanguard Newspapers, Alozie Uzoukwu of Rhythm FM/Silverbird TV, Dr. Shauibu Hussien of Guardian. It was the Ajayi that made it possible.
For me, the icing on the cake for the party that held in Lilongwe, the capital of the country, was the swiftness with which Ajayi arranged for the journalists from Nigeria to have a one- on- one interview with President Banda of Malawi, a day after the Party at which she spoke very well of … Adeshina, the then Nigeria’s agriculture minister, whom she said ‘Nigeria do not know what they have in him (Adeshina)’; little wonder AfDB, snatched him when his work was done as minister. On same trip, we visited Kenya, though, on a stop over, via Kenyan Airlines. A night stop over, we stole some hours to visit the East Africa country’s night clubs. That was my third time in that Jomo Kenyatta’s country.
I have taken my time to narrate this story just to show that, though, Ajayi, may be hard on those he considers vendors of fake news on Facebook (now Meta), against the country/government of Nigeria, deep down inside his mind, he has a church mind like Delta State people will say.
Still on AMAA, even this year, he reserved entry ticket for me to attend when I told him I was yet to get one even when I knew that I will not attend. That is Topsy for you. A caring pal.Topsy, like I use to call him, take a bow; you deserve it.
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