Posted by By YINKA FABOWALE, Ibadan on
His assessment of the Nigerian Press would appear typical and predictable of someone in government: Very critical, scathing and unsparing. Yet, Dayo Omotoso, Governor Adebayo Alao- Akala's Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs may be said to be competent to hold these views, having himself been a practitioner of the pen profession for close to three decades.
His assessment of the Nigerian Press would appear typical and predictable of someone in government: Very critical, scathing and unsparing.
Yet, Dayo Omotoso, Governor Adebayo Alao- Akala's Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs may be said to be competent to hold these views, having himself been a practitioner of the pen profession for close to three decades.
Jaundiced journalism
'I frown at yellow journalism in whatever form. There is nothing like objectivity anymore with some of these publications. You find them pandering to selfish and narrow political interests or dancing to their proprietor's tune, sacrificing facts even when they know this is where the truth lies. That is jaundiced journalism," Omotoso says, visibly angry.
Akala and the media
He cites the apparent media hostility against his principal as an example. 'You see some journalists now present opinion as news. Even some magazines which will otherwise want to be taken seriously are guilty of this. Imagine them publishing cover stories with such titles as Akala's Scam: how he looted Oyo, Road to the end, can this governor survive? And their stories are utterly baseless.
'In fact, left to them, Akala would not have been governor. You see our colleagues freely and frivolously commenting on a case that is in court, some even giving their own judgment! I am talking about the Election Petition Tribunal. They forget that God is on the throne.
'Even where they see visible achievements, they prefer to close their eyes. They are blind to the massive road construction going on, the rehabilitation of the general hospitals, improvement of fire service. Only recently the governor presented the state civil servants with cars and bought over 100 buses for transporters but you won't see a mention of these in the newspapers. Why?"
Improvement
Yet, Omotoso expects better from the media whose fortunes he says have been enhanced over the years. 'Journalism has improved tremendously particularly in the area of working environment. I started with Drum Magazine about 30 years ago we didn't have the latest gadgetry and products of modern technology such as computer, digital camera and other things that could enhance your work. Also, people with better education, graduates, are coming in. Many of our predecessors were not graduates, the pay packet is much better now, reporters can now afford good cars and in live in flats. All these should have translated to better practice," the governor's image maker remarks.
Charlatans in journalism
He is also unhappy about the proliferation of charlatans in the industry. Says he: 'I was in Lagos the other time and was almost mobbed by a crowd of journalists; asking me to give them something. When I asked this, you say you're from so so media house, do you know so so person, he said no, I asked that one, he said no. I knew these are charlatans, or how can you not know a person from the same stable as you? The Nigerian Union of Journalists really has a task on its hand.
Tour
Before his present station, Omotoso has had a tour of some of the big media houses in the industry. After graduation from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University ) where he studied English, (1978/79), he worked for the Drum Magazine, rising to the position of the Deputy Editor. He also reported for the Tell Magazine as Assistant Editor and the now rested The Comet where he was City Editor in charge of the Ibadan office of the outfit.
Once a reporter…
Of all the aspects of journalism, Omotoso says he likes reporting most. 'It tasks your intellect, it stretches you, particularly investigative reporting which is my forte". Despite leaving active journalism, Omotosho says the germ of reporting still afflicts him. 'This is just a call to serve my fatherland in another sphere. If I leave here and you ask me to come and report for your organization, I will. I still do it here.
Memorable stories
Among the memorable stories he wrote were the Chief Evans Enwerem story of 1992 when he was still governor of Imo State. In the report, Omotosho had established that the late politician had questionable academic record. 'The story generated a lot of furore and many people called for my head, but years later, the story resurfaced, and as you know, it eventually consumed him and I was vindicated." Omotosho was alluding to the issue of Enwerem's educational record which saw to his ouster as senate president in the Fourth Republic.
He also remembers his coverage of the sectarian conflict in Bauchi, where a minority group, the Sewaya tribe refused the headship of the Emir and fought for their own chief. This was the remote cause of the crisis which later engulfed the whole of the north. The immediate cause was the slaughtering of pigs in the same abattoir that the largely Muslim community used in slaughtering rams and cattle.
Why journalism?
But why journalism? You ask Omotosho. He explains that the interest started from childhood, when as a primary school student, he used to read such popular literature as Challenge and Aworerin. Then in secondary school he religiously read Drum Magazine and listened to Dateline Africa, a programme on the BBC London. 'I used to write to the host of that programme and there was this particular edition which I objected to and tried to correct him on the perception of Africans. 'You know, the man replied and apologized that he didn't see it from the perspective I pointed out to him. Then he said why don't you do journalism yourself"?
Omotoso sustained the interest in literary activities through his university days where he was involved in the publication of a campus magazine, Oodua.
Twice, however, had he tried to establish newspapers of his own and twice he failed. He was pioneer of celebrity magazines which now flood the media market, having founded one with a colleague, Tayo Alaso Adura. Indeed, Segun Olatunji, the current managing director/ editor in chief of Nigerian Tribune worked briefly as a reporter there, before joining Tribune.
Later, Omotosho was invited by the veteran journalist; Chief Dayo Duyile, to set up African Drum in the early 90's. But this project also failed.
Omotosho attributed the attrition of these publications to paucity of funds. 'I approached so many people who made promises but did not keep them."
But the never- say -die journalist has turned his interest to biography writing and media consulting for organizations including federal government agencies. One of the biographies that had been published was on the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi Ajagungbade II.