Okinbaloye makes sure that he is very well informed of the issues he discusses. Without showing disrespect to any of his guests, Seun does not allow anyone to bully him, no matter what office the person may occupy. While he must have the normal human bias, he professionally tries to be fair to all sides of the story. Each time I have watched Seun Okinbaloye, I have developed more respect for this truly talented Nigerian.
Earlier, this week, I watched Seun Okinbaloye's 'Politics Today' on John Momoh's Channels TV. The day before, Seun had promoted the release of new ANAP/NOI polls with respect to the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria. I watched as Seun interrogated Atedo Peterside whose ANAP Foundation commissioned the polls.
Peterside did not claim that the polls represent the word of God or that they are infallible. He explained the methodology used and the weaknesses in the methodology. He said that the interviews were conducted by cell phones and that there was a high level of undecided and people who refused to answer the questions asked. From what I understand, the ANAP/NOI polls have correctly predicted the winners of the last three presidential elections in Nigeria.
Nigeria ought to have more than the ANAP/NOI polls so that we can see other sides of the story. Besides, every serious campaign should have its internal polls conducted by a trusted pollster to help the campaign better understand which of its strategies is working well and which is missing the mark.
I was shocked by the reaction that followed the Channels TV program especially from my good friends in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaign team. Since the elections are more than 2 months away and INEC will not declare the winner of the 2023 elections based on the ANAP/NOI polls, I expected each of the camps to study the polls closely and see what they can learn from them. And if any camp considers the polls to be fake, just ignore them and move on! Rely on your internal polls.
The outrage over the polls is coming while we are yet to recover from the stench of the recent take-no-prisoner ballistic missiles fired by my friend, Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga at Nduka Obaigbena and his operatives at Arise TV and Thisday Newspaper over the Arise News Town Hall series. Jesus! My guys did not just throw the kitchen sink, they shattered open the soak-away pit and loaded their missile with all the smelly stuff they can dredge out of the pit!
I am getting very confused. It is beginning to appear like no one is allowed to interrogate Bola Ahmed Tinubu or report anything that suggests that he may not be the President that Nigerians want in May 2023. But Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga are two of the foremost interrogative journalists Nigeria has ever produced.
For God's sake, I expect that Dele and Bayo, great journalists that they are, would insist that anybody who dreams of leading Nigeria in its present state must be interrogated and interrogated and interrogated. At this moment, Nigeria must be the most complex nation on earth to lead. With our many tribes, languages, suffocating poverty, frightening insecurity, massive youth unemployment, bottomless debt, a currency that is diving like crazy, inflation that is out of control, dizzying level of corruption, many divisions, deep suspicions and hopelessness within its peoples, Nigeria cannot afford to hire a next Chief Executive Officer that has not been interrogated and interrogated and interrogated. That is exactly what Dele Alake would have done at Concord and Bayo Onanuga at the News Magazine.
My understanding of political campaigns is that it is a game of addition and multiplication and not one of subtraction and division. I watch this take-no-prisoner fight in all directions and wonder how making so many enemies helps the objectives of Dele and Bayo's principal. You might not like Peter Obi, but you must concede that he is a master at diffusing attacks. Over and over again, he has shown that he is calm under fire, a quality a new Nigerian leader must have in abundance.
One of the greatest contributions of M.K.O. Abiola in the service of the Nigerian nation may be his setting up of the Concord Press and Concord group of Newspapers which were commissioned on March 1, 1980.
At a time that could be described as the golden age of Nigerian journalism, Abiola, with the help of a former editor of Daily Times of Nigeria, Henry Odukomaya, and his fantastic conditions of service, assembled at his sprawling site between the domestic and international airports in Ikeja, a lot of the sparkling stars of Nigerian journalism.
I was a young artiste and producer at the international recording company, EMI. Later, I became President of PMAN with office in Ikeja. I needed the media for the many campaigns I was engaged in, and the media needed me for the continuous content that I provided. I was at Concord Press all the time and at some point, knew nearly, everyone, from the MD to the security men. Concord Press became my extended family.
It was at Concord that I first met Mike Awonyinfa, the iconic caster of arresting headlines who approached every story from a human angle and made Weekend Concord probably Nigeria's best-selling newspaper of all times. At Concord, I met the likes of Nsikak Essien, Lewis Obi, Dele Alake, Dele Momodu, Eric Osagie, Dimgba Igwe, Louis Odion, Tom Borha, Ohi Alegbe, Seye Kehinde, Basil Okafor, Femi Adesina, Nat Beifor Osiwele, Osita Ike, Larry Izamoje and many others who have gone on to play important roles in nation building. A good number of them became my great friends.
Concord Press which was later headed by Doyin Abaoba who in time got married to the great M.K.O., became the crucible of Nigerian Journalism. It was from Concord Press that the late Dele Giwa and Ray Ekpu struck out to set up the iconic Newswatch. Bayo Onanuga and Ojudu Babafemi left Concord to set up the News Magazine. Mike Awoyinfa became the first Editor-in-Chief of the Sun, succeeded by Eric Osagie. Of course, Larry Izamoje set up Brila FM and Seye Kehinde founded City People. "Bob Dee" Dele Momodu left Concord to edit May Ellen Ezekiel's Classique Magazine before launching Ovation International. We all know that great May Ellen Ezekiel later got married to Richard Mofe Damijo and became Mee Mofe Damijo.
It is from this family of first-class journalists with incredible history that Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga come from. I still consider myself a member of that extended family. That is why I ask the question: Why are they fighting everybody?
See you next week.
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