Some of today’s journalists post ‘news’ that is not news

From Sola Ojo, Kaduna

For the old hands in the pen-pushing profession in the North and Nigeria as a whole, Alhaji Tajudeen Tijjani Ajibade is one of the living legends in the industry. 
In a chat with Sunday Sun at the Kaduna  Secretariat of the NUJ, the 77-year-old Ibadan-raised Niger State prince, popularly called a mobile encyclopedia, shared his thoughts on journalism profession then and now, expressing the need for the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to emulate other professional bodies and put its house in order, among other issues.

Can you share with us your journey into journalism?
I started practicing journalism somewhere I did not expect around 1971. I was a stringer with a few newspapers around then.

Can you quickly lead us into your early life?
I was born on Sunday, June 1, 1947. I attended Islamic Primary School at Odoye Adeoyo in Ibadan, Oyo State. Opposite our school, there was an old office of the Nigerian Tribune. That was where the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo started the African Publishing Company before it was relocated to Imole Nfalafia. So, I always visited their dump site to pick and read some of the rough publications. From there, I will take the paper to my classroom. I was in Standard 4 then, but I could read. That was 1958. From there, I would compare my notes with the publication and would be wondering how were they doing it? My teacher then, Mr Olanipekun (I don’t know where he is now) would always ask me in the class the names of some places because he knew I read. That was how I started having interest.
Today, you work more in the North and Kaduna to be specific, how did you get here?
I was coming there. Immediately I got to Standard 3 in 1957, just a 10-year-old boy, I took a journey from Ibadan to Kano without informing my parents. There was no way to communicate back home either when I got to Kano. Those that had telephones in Ibadan then were the likes of Agbajes, Oyinloyes, Olunloyos, and Onis although we grew up with some of their children. So, I don’t know the situation my family was in for days without their son.

You speak different local languages, including Yoruba, Hausa, and Nupe, who are you?
I hail from Bida in Niger State, but was born and raised in Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State. My dad was a great merchant. My dad grew up in Ibadan. He was a prince. My grandfather was the last Emir of Bida. Bida was an Emirate under the caliphate before the war took them off before we now have what is known as Etsu Nupe ranks which have been globally accepted. My father, who was a young prince then was taken to Balogun Ogunmola’s house for tutelage. Balogun Ogunmola married my father’s elder sister. Our house is just opposite the palace at Bere in Ibadan. Back to my ‘stowaway’ journey to Kano. My maternal grandfather was selling beans in large quantities. So, one night, after one of the lorries offloaded the bags of beans, I snicked in without anyone knowing. That was how I found myself in Kano. The journey took us five days. Maybe it would have been less, but because the lorry had several stopovers to pick up passengers and goods. The morning, the following the day, we got to Kano, I went to Galadima Road where the market was then. I wanted to go to Kawogama, which is in present-day Jigawa State to see a relative whom my parents talked about a lot while in Ibadan.

So, how did all these snowball into journalism?
So, as a voracious young boy who was curious to read, I went to the Post Office at Galadima Road in Kano and saw people reading Daily Times, Daily Sketch, New Nigerian, and other national dailies. I watched them from afar because I could not speak Hausa then. I was surprised at how these newspapers were getting to Kano that early. I eventually made friends there as a young man and began to learn the language of the land. While I was in Ibadan, I used to see those traditionalists with Kakaki flute in my house every morning. I didn’t know who they were or what the flute meant. But while in Kano, I learned they do that to princes. Then, I began to look for my roots and I later knew that the popular Olanihun gave my father a piece of land where he built his house because they were also Nupe though they have been Yorubalised having been living there overtime. My father’s name was Muhammadu Bashir Tijjani. His father’s name was Muhammadu Bashir. But when my father started primary school, they gave him Ajibade because he grew up in the palace. One day while in Standard 1, he was beaten in the school by his white teacher and he ran home. His mother told him that they don’t beat a prince and that was how he never went back to school. That was how he was nicknamed Ajibade Standard 1 which is a very popular saying among the Yoruba up till today. Along the line, someone who knew me came to Kano and saw me. He then told my parents who he saw and that was how I moved back to Ibadan to complete my Standard 6, I came out with an A which used to be Blue Certificate in those days. When I got my certificate, it became difficult for me to proceed due to what I didn’t know. My father then took me to a printing press to learn printing. Within that period, my father took me to a book publishing firm in Ilesha in present-day Osun State called Ilesanmi Printing Press where I became a proofreader. That was how things were shaping towards my journalism career. I went back to Onibon Oje Printing Press in Ibadan where you see books like History of Nigeria, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole, etc. Books written by the likes of Ade Ajayi, Amos Tutuola, Ekwesi, J. F. Odunjo, and other old publishers. In fairness to my father, he bought all the needed books for me from the Arisekola Alao bookshop. In 1967, I wrote my first WAEC in Asaba, Delta State. Unfortunately, the civil war affected us when we were supposed to gain admission into the tertiary education. Thanks to the University of Ibadan which organised distance learning for us. I was standing close to Adekunle Adepeju at Queen Amina Hall during the food shortage crisis when a bullet hit him and he fell. He was a student of Agriculture at the University of Ibadan. I was among those who rushed him to the hospital where he was confirmed dead. We also took him to St Ann’s Cemetery for burial. That was in 1973. In 1969, I travelled back to Kaduna. When I came to Kaduna, I came across Mr Francis Alabi who was a crack reporter with New Nigerian Newspapers, and Emmanuel Osiwiogu, another crack reporter with Daily Times Weekend. It was Osiwiogu who became the uncrowned chief of Kafanchan. It was Osiwiogu that reported commercial sex workers’ free will for all. He trained me in court reporting because the court was the starting point for young journalists then. Their thinking was that if you start from there, you will know the law without studying law, and that will guide you against libel and defamation in the newsroom. The day they took me to New Nigerian Newspapers was the same day I was engaged. That was in 1972. Malam Adamu Shiroma was The Managing Director while Malam Mamman Daura was the Editor. They were paying me based on the number of stories that I wrote. I got more money even more than the so-called employed then. Clement Ndah Isaiah, the father of Sam Ndah Isaiah who established Leadership Newspapers was among the senior colleagues that encouraged me then. I met a lot of people like Goni Peter, and Yahaya Ali (Yaki) at NNN.

Have you ever written a story that landed you in big trouble?
The story that promoted and kept me in detention for a while was the “First robbery in the North”. All that time, I was driving a car from Ibadan to Kaduna and Kano. Many thought I was from a rich home. But, one day, my car developed a mechanical fault and I parked it inside the NNN and opted for a taxi. Just from NNN to Leventis. Inside that taxi, the occupants were discussing (in the Yoruba Language) how a young man was killed and his taxi taken away by armed robbers. They mentioned his name as Yemisi Aborisade. I kept quiet in my brown jeans and fine leader shoes. The country was good then so we could afford quality wears. They killed him and his body was dumped inside Kangimi Dam along Jos Road. So, instead of going home, I rushed back to the office and met Mr Stephen Bamigbele. He was the man that exposed a Jos judge who said adultery was not a crime in Idoma land. He said the devils are here. He demanded the story and I wrote it the best way I could. He worked on it and it came out better. That was the practice then. They were not lazy and rude senior reporters like we have today. When the police want to work, they will work because they recovered that taxi. A brand new taxi. So, instead of piping low for a few days after the story hit the street, I wanted to do a follow-up a day after which landed me in detention. Policemen picked me. One of them slapped me and I returned the slap. So, they got angry, beat me, and dragged me to their station. When the news got to the NNN, they came to my rescue and I was granted bail. Then my friend, and colleague, Malam Abubakar Abdulmalik of blessed memory came and started shouting and that was how I was released to him. He took me to NNN hospital (not a clinic) where I was treated. The Police Public Relations Officer, a fine gentleman from Borno State whose name I can’t remember, sent too young officers to my house and took me to court at Daura Road, Kaduna. The judge immediately sent me to prison without any hearing as if he had been instructed. So, while we were lining up for documentation, one of the prison wardens asked the policemen to take me back to the police station because there was no paper indicating my offense. Before getting there, NNN management arrived and that was how I was freed. That was how that hasty judgment worked in my favour. The second story was also about a taxi driver. Two young policemen flagged him down and demanded money from him. But he declined. That was how they overpowered him and collected all the money he made that day not knowing that the owner of the taxi was a Colonel in Nigerian Army. He called the police hierarchy who put the two men in prison. The following day, the headline read: “Alleged robbery: Two Policemen in detention”. They were looking for me all over the place. Between 1975-76, the Editor of the Nigeria Standard of Jos came to NNN and said he was offering me a job immediately. I was employed and kept in the Kaduna office under Joseph Angulu. When he left, I became the State Editor.

So, what has changed?
What has changed is that some of today’s journalists post ‘news’ that is not news. People don’t even know the rudiments of journalism. I worked in Daily Sketch when Segun Osoba who later became Ogun State governor was the Managing Editor of that paper. I was working in the NPN state while Sketch belonged to the UPN. Luckily for me, any story I sent on NPN, they used it. We followed the tenet of the profession then. The idea then was that if you can get it, leave it. Don’t speculate so you don’t mess up the profession. Again, some journalists today focus more on what they will get rather than the stories. The first day they gave me money, I went to report to my Editor that somebody had given me money and they laughed at me. The day I also gave Adagbo Onoja, who later became the Press Secretary to Sule Lamido, he told me that I gave him money without knowing how the money came by. Also, our salaries and claims are paid as at when due. After Lagos was Kaduna in terms of newspaper marketing. Your salary comes with newspapers on the last day of every month. The only thing that can make a reporter lose his job is to touch advertisement money even if it is N1.

Your words for those in the field now?
Some of them underrated us. What stops the NUJ from constantly bringing the old journalists together with the young ones to rub minds and share ideas? A journalist cannot say he has no job. A journalist is not an unemployed. You can practice your journalism where you are and make your money. Segun Osoba said when you lose your job as a journalist, don’t cry. Just go back to the press centre, they will bring work for you there. I became an editor from this NUJ house here in Kaduna and was earning more than Champion Editor as of that time. This profession belongs to some people. NUJ is the only professional body in Nigeria that has not come together which is why whenever there is an election, there will be crisis. There was a time when we were having two NUJ presidents. One from Kano and the other one from Lagos. We should not forget the fathers of Nigeria journalism like Baba Obafemi Awolowo, Baba Rasaki Aremu, Baba Mark Bears, Francis Alabi, Emmanuel Osisiogu, Dayo Right, Peter Ajayi, Adamu Shiroma, Mamman Daura, Sam Amukapemu, Muhammadu Haruna, Sule Abu, Yakubu Muhammed, Dan Agbese, Ray Ekpo and the rest of them.

What would you like to be remembered for?
I want to be remembered as a global citizen. I have never bothered over where someone comes from. I have also not felt inferior to anyone. As for me, I will write till the day I will die. I don’t care if they call me names. I have developed a tick skin to absorb that. So, you need us before we go.