EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
‘BUHARI Brings Stability, Reassurance Back into Governance’-Femi Sowoolu, Nigeria’s Ace Broadcaster
*Says: ‘Nigeria is a Difficult Society to Practice Investigative Journalism’
*Reveals: ‘Few Journalists who tried to dig further into Incriminating issues had been Assassinated in the past’
*States: ‘Brown Envelope is a matter of personal Conviction, Never received Gratification’
*Echoes: ‘Institutional guidelines newly entrenched, Corruption in governance no longer regarded business as usual’
*Lament: ‘Previous Nigerian governments allowed Corruption to grow into an extremely Powerful juggernaut’
*Nigerian Union of Journalists, Nigerian Guild of Editors Should Deal with Fake Journalists
*PLUS Unpublished Story of Experience in Television Continental as a Pioneer Broadcaster
FEMI SOWOOLU is one of the most celebrated Nigerian broadcast Journalists, very dedicated and passionate to investigative journalism. He represents honesty, professionalism, truth and hardwork. He’s always focused on any matter he faces, seeing the positive sides of the coin. Upwardly-mobile, widely traveled Femi grants SAMSON SHOAGA/MANAGING EDITOR an Exclusive Interview, the first since exited Television Continental (TVC), a broadcast station he helped established in Lagos. He talks about his experience in TVC, Why Investigative Journalism is Difficult in Nigeria and Reasons he thinks President Muhammadu Buhari is the right leader for Nigeria among other issues.
Q: How will you describe the performance of Nigerian Media under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari?
I think that this present government has brought a lot of stability and reassurance back into the art of governance, whereby institutional guidelines are being newly entrenched and corruption in governance is no longer regarded as ‘business as usual,’ or done the ‘Nigerian way,’ as has often been often unfortunately termed; a new air of order has been crafted, simply by doing what is right, and overtly distancing itself from corruption. Now, this has not been an easy task simply due to the fact that previous Nigerian governments had allowed corruption to grow into an extremely powerful juggernaut over the many years of corrupt governance, and so it is expected that their will exist numerous bottlenecks and difficulties in entrenching a government that is run based on institutional morals, ethics and rules. It should therefore be understood that most of the niggling hurdles being experienced by the present government are firstly, the result of these extremely wealthy oppositional forces fighting back against the forces of change with the wherewithal that has been fraudulently amassed over the years. Secondly, this is my view of the present situation – we have been living in a fool’s paradise for many years, more so during the period of the last government, living on the falsehood of being a wealthy nation, by displaying our false lifestyles, wild spending, champagne parties, outrageous mansions splattered across exotic estates, expensive cars, private planes, and exotic yachts, of the extremely, criminally wealthy few. While on the other side of the divide were the forgotten, neglected larger population that lived in squalor, unemployment, poverty, hunger, despondence, societal degradation, lack of basic necessities, meager minimal earning, poor health facilities, ruined educational systems, over-taxation, rural neglect and corrupt municipal systems, brigandage, violence and terrorism. I have always believed that it was essential that we bring back our country to the levels that our forefathers had envisaged, a land described so inspirationally within the lines of our first National Anthem – ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee.’ Allow me to recant that anthem, in an excerpt taken from an article I wrote a few years ago, titled ‘The Problem With Nigeria:
“Nigeria we hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though tribe and tongue may differ
In brotherhood we stand
Nigerians all are bound to serve
Our sovereign motherland
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign
In peace or battle honored
And this we count as gain
To hand onto our children
A banner without stain
O God of all creation
Grant this our one request
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.”
Do you notice as those words effortlessly reveal a growth plan with a formula to success and achievement, reflecting all our hopes and aspirations at independence as well as our national need for dignity? Did you also notice how the words ‘truth’ and ‘justice’ were employed in the anthem, without any ambiguity whatever? It cried out in the second stanza that we ‘hand our children a banner without stain.’ The final verse tells how our nation longs for ‘peace’ and that peace can only bring stability and growth. It gloriously ends by asking that God bless Nigeria.
My support for this present government shall continue for as long as it sticks to its battle against corruption, for I have always believed that once we get that out of our system, everything else will naturally fall into place.
Q: Do you think Nigerian journalists are still practicing Investigative Journalism in the majority of their reports?
Nigeria is a difficult society to practice investigative journalism to the letter. Corruption has been entrenched into our system and has even infested our blood. The economic situation of most practitioners of journalism cannot be compared to that of colleagues in developed countries, so a bribe given to prevent any further investigation of a damaging story could be quite welcome by the individual under the circumstances. Besides, the few journalists who have tried to dig further into incriminating issues had been assassinated in the past. Once again, a societal change is required that would encourage more journalists to be more daring. However, one can see that with the new environment of online media activity, there are more ‘citizen journalists’ and online news blogs that have removed the traditional difficulties of practicing the profession. Finally, ‘the goldfish has no hiding place!’
Q: You are a pioneer ace broadcaster with Television Continental, Lagos, what led to your exit?
I was actually for the period of three and a half years the Director of Radio Services at Continental Broadcasting Service, CBS, which owned TVC and Radio Continental and a few other stations spread across South-western Nigeria. During that short period we managed to raise the ratings for our radio station from irrelevance to Number 1. It was no mean feat, but it was done using the exemplary attributes of leadership, teamwork, trust, reliability, sustenance, belief, truth, honesty and ability to perform at the utmost. Success always attracts envy and enmity. There were some within the system who tried to distract us from our vision by employing unethical and dastardly methods. I had achieved my goal. I never had time to squabble of fight unnecessary battles. I left.
Q: What lessons did you learn from Television Continental?
Simple. To always do the right things. Always; without fear, favor, or intimidation. Right is always might!
Q: It is believed in many circles, that salaries are always owed to most journalists by their Nigerian employers. Was there anytime your salary was owned when you were in Television Continental?
Never were salaries owed at TVC while I was there. In situations where that happens I believe that the ownership and management of such stations, never did their homework and research before they embarked on the project. Too many people, who have no business being even near the premises of media organizations, are owning them. That is a major problem that should be addressed at some stage by the national broadcasting overseeing body, the NBC.
Q: Will you say you have any regret to have worked in Television and Radio Continental?
I have no life regrets whatsoever. What ever I have been through in life has provided lessons to be learned and moments to cherish. One should never live a life based on regret.
Q: How can the issue of ‘Brown Envelope or Yellow Journalism’ be stopped or eliminated in Nigeria?
I have personally never received any form of gratification in my entire career. So if I can do it, others can too. It is a matter of personal conviction. One must believe in one’s ability, capacity and excellence. If a supposed ‘giver’ notices such traits in a potential ‘receiver’ he would be more wary of engaging in such a venture. Journalists must begin to operate from a position of superiority. To do so, one must be presentable, well dressed, well spoken, highly knowledgeable and confident. You must be seen to be in charge of your terrain, always.
Q: How can owners of media houses be tracked so that they never default in paying journalists their wages?
My previous answer suffices. It is the job of the NBC to vet and approve ownership of electronic media organizations. These things can be better prevented and controlled at the application/approval stages. Only those that fully understand the operations and importance of media should be allowed to buy into the media ownership project. This is where our professional and governing bodies need to play a more visible role. The onus is upon them to remove the shylocks and quacks from the system.
Q: Heard you were offered a mouth-watering deal in your new Broadcast position based on your clean broadcast record?
Kind words. Thank you. Not even ‘mouth-watering deals’ would attract me, if the station does not espouse the ideals that have built my image upon over the years. But, I have been busy – I have been consulting for a few stations over the years, I’ve been writing and currently have five books in publishing, I’m producing a documentary on Power in Nigeria and also consulting on a musical dance/drama production that intends to portray our societal ills and the way forward to correcting them, currently in production. I’ve also quite recently set up a new radio station in Ibadan, Oyo State, which should be on the airwaves in a few weeks. All my ideals are encapsulated there – it should give all other stations a run for their money.
Q: Can you recall some of your Evergreen moments in Broadcast Journalism?
Hmmm…There are far too many to compress into a few short lines. I would advise that you wait for my first book, which should be out soon. It’s called, ‘There Are No Heroes: An autobiographical instructive for the modern broadcaster.’ All the stories you need are portrayed from different parts of my professional career. The idea was to create a performance reference for students of mass communication, broadcasting, leadership or even business management, by putting together an historical account of the travails of a Nigerian who had a dream and sojourned through thick and thin to actualize that dream. I’ll send you a copy.
Q: Are there other media projects you are currently working on?
I think I provide the answer to most of this question above (Question 9) But you might want to add my contributions to Reality television in Nigeria, with the introduction of the Gulder Ultimate Search, and also participation on other shows like, StarQuest, Maltina Dance All and Nigerian Idol.
Q: Will you say President Buhari breached his ‘Oath of Office’ by not keeping to his manifesto and promises to Nigerians?
Which manifesto? Which promises? The man hasn’t even done half his term yet and some people are grumbling. This is a work in process. Our foundations were discovered to be rotten and infested with worms. No one amongst us even knew exactly how bad things were until the old leadership was replaced; now we all know how much of a mess we are in. Before this government can even begin to think of progressing forward, we must first of all clean up the mess. That does not mean that ideology, manifesto or promises have been abandoned, it only implies that we are cleaning up and fine-tuning the process to make things work better, and longer. We getter a better view of situations from the inside, than from afar.
Q: Looking at the Nigerian Inflationary Economy and majority of the suffering masses, will you say President Buhari has failed Nigerians in performance?
Nigeria has been in recessionary mode long before Buhari. The previous government gave a false impression of a buoyant economy and a few believed. We manufactured nothing. The bulk of our exports was oil, but little was earned officially, most stashed away through fictitious accounts and dubious means into private hands. Repatriated stolen funds were re-stolen and frittered away. The public/social/welfare system had collapsed a long time ago. Banks had become avenues for fraudulent transactions, foreign exchange dealing and round-tripping. The recession did not begin this year. We have simply been in denial far too long. The good news is that at least our situation is visible today. The first challenge of recovery is to identify that there is a problem, then begin to work to solve it. That is the reality of our situation. Were the last government still in power, we would still be living in our land of Faustian, utopian dreams! Best economy in Africa, my you-know-what!
Q: There are allegations that President Buhari administration is busy chasing opposition members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the stand of corruption war. What is your take on that?
They have been found out to be physically corrupt. The amounts mentioned have broken all previous Nigerian records in public graft. I have said before, without solving this problem of corruption first, nothing much can be achieved. Without entrenching punishment for crimes done against our commonwealth, we teach nothing to tomorrow’s leadership. Examples abound. And the best form of leadership is leadership by example. Would you pardon a thief who came to your house overnight and stole all your hard-earned property?
Q: Will you say the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have disappointed Nigerians in stopping the activities of Fake Journalists?
I agree. But then how much have these bodies contributed towards the training and re-training of journalists? Then again, in these internet-age days of social media interactivity, who really can be called a journalist? Question to ponder over for the near future. The world as we once knew it is changing before our very eyes; either we change with it or we become extinct.
