With TONY OKOROJI
Okoroji
In a week that an iconic Nigerian like Christopher Kolade passed on, you would think that the major discussion would be the exemplary life that this great Nigerian lived. Christopher Kolade was in many ways a doyen of Nigeria’s broadcasting, a doyen of Nigeria’s corporate leadership, a doyen of Nigeria’s diplomacy and a great example of what a good Nigerian should be.
It just happens that not much is being said about the fall of this great Iroko because during the week, almost everyone has been fixated with analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a young Nigerian broadcast journalist on Arise News TV, named Rufai Oseni. The Internet is suffocated with arguments on the good, the bad and ugly of Rufai Oseni.
In a nation where we worship political office holders, Oseni is not a minister, he is not a governor, he is not a senator, he is not even a local government chairman. Rufai Oseni is not a footballer, not a singer, not a preacher and not even the owner of Arise Tv where he works. So why is everybody talking about Rufai Oseni?
Do you know how many operational broadcast stations there are in Nigeria? According to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), there are 740 of them. Every state has its own broadcasting network. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) alone has a network of 96 stations!
Does anyone recall a time when wherever we were, we all stopped to make sure we watched the NTA Network News at 9.00 pm, to be abreast of what had happened during the day? Let us be honest; how many people watch NTA news or any NTA program these days? Forgive me but I keep wondering whether the billions of Naira invested in the NTA behemoth is money well spent by the Nigerian government, in a period of grave scarcity. What purpose does it serve?
It is the social media age. Practically everyone with a smart phone is now a writer and everyone is a publisher. Very few people, these days, get their news from any newspaper. Very few watch TV except for Telemundo, Zee World, African Magic, Big Brother Naija and Premier League.
A good survey will show that a huge number of the 740 broadcast stations in Nigeria are redundant. They cannot sustain themselves. Many have been set up as political megaphones to massage the egos of their proprietors and friends. They have zero credibility. Practically everyone knows that no NTA reporter that wants to keep his job for 24 hours, would dare broadcast any information that Aso Rock would not approve. What applies to NTA, applies to the different state-owned stations. Most proprietors of private stations who are forever chasing government contracts and support are also very careful not to step on the toes of any important government official.
Please ask yourself why it is that any politician in Nigeria today that is not seen on Channels TV or Arise News is not considered relevant? These are the two stations that are still believed to be independent and credible and not seen as anyone’s personal PR machine. That is why controversial politicians like Nyesom Wike and Dave Umahi cannot stay away from Seun Okinbaloye’s ‘Politics Today’ and Rufai Oseni’s Arise News Morning Show. These are the programs that attract the eyeballs. Publicity is the air that every politician breathes. Starve a politician of publicity and he is dead.
I have watched the altercation between Rufai Oseni and Works Minister, Dave Omahi, several times and read many of the analysis of that altercation. I find it difficult to understand those who express the view that Rufai Oseni is not a journalist because he would not kowtow to the Honourable Minister the way an NTA or TVC reporter would. No one decreed that the Minister should appear on Arise News. He chose to be there because he wanted to be where the eyeballs would be. It is the fearless style of Rufai Oseni that attracts the eyeballs. To ask Rufai to drop his style is to ask him to commit professional suicide.
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, easily one of the greatest journalists of our time, achieved her great reputation not by doing things the way everyone else did. I watched Christiane on live TV take on President Bill Clinton in the White House while she was dodging bullets as a reporter in the war front in Bosnia. She was bold and in no way subservient to Bill Clinton who was President of the United States. She received great acclaim and after the war, every TV station wanted Christiane Amampour. Eventually, Christiane was made to work for two competing TV Networks at the same time; ABC and CNN because she was so much in hot demand and none of the networks was ready to give up on her!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have only met Rufai Oseni once. He was recently my guest at the COSON Green Ball. We spoke for a while and shared an understanding of the values that drive him. I found him to be quite shy and self-effacing. I like the work that Rufai Oseni is doing. Someone has to do the job of asking for accountability from those spending money that belongs to all of us.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am a big fan of Rufai Oseni.
See you next week.
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