By Kalu Nwokoro Idika
On the 16th of June, after I cleared my writing desk for the day, I received an urgent call from my sister who asked me to come over to her place for a brief discussion. I proceeded to her place which is a bit far from my location. When I got to her house, I was served a very cold fanta to douse my nerves. And after few minutes of relaxation, we started discussion. While this conversation was going on, the husband returned from his daily business. As custom demands, we exchanged pleasantries. Thereafter, I noticed about two newspapers he returned home with. I obliged him to release one of the Newspaper to me so that I can peruse at my own leisure. Perhaps, when he handed over the newspaper to me which was the TheNation, I felt a huge abnormal change. I said to myself, why is this newspaper so feeble? Does it mean some pages have been removed by my in-law? Without hesitation, I asked him if some pages of the Newspaper were removed, he answered affirmatively no.
Frankly speaking, bad economic condition in Nigeria has deflated the quality of Newspapers produced by the print media in the country unlike before. Production cost has really affected the print media coupled with the growing universalization of the electronic media. This poses a grave danger to print media proprietors. If something is not done, some print media in Nigeria will go into extinction without the hope of bouncing back.
How The Print Media Molded Me
However, the story of my adventure in craft writing won’t be complete if I dont discuss the role the print media played in my life. My late father was an avid reader of Newspaper. He made his three sons; my brothers and I to become ardent readers of Newspaper too. It became a culture in the family. Every day of our life, we must spend two to three hours reading Newspaper with our father. We were secondary school students. Though, my two brothers were far ahead of me in the class. While the both were in the senior secondary, I was in the Junior secondary. I could remember, the day my father got so upset with us because we were more engrossed in reading sports news. He never liked the idea of reading sports news alone. He encouraged us to read everything on the Newspaper.
For more than 10 years, he made it a rite to be returning from work with two different Newspapers. The Sun and Vanguard were his regulars but sometimes he buys other tabloids like Punch and Guardian. As a little boy, my penchant for reading and writing grew astronomically. Consequently, two of my brothers graduated from secondary school and proceeded to study in different institutions for a degree programme. While the first son got admittance into the Department of Electrical Engineering University of Nigeria, Nsukka, my immediate senior enrolled into Uyo City Polytechnic to study Mass communication. I was at home with my father who will always advise me to re-read some of the old Newspapers for adequate understanding. I never knew he was preparing me for the future.
When I got admitted into the Department of Political Science University of Nigeria, Nsukka, it became a routine thing for me to spend over an hour everyday reading at the Newspaper stand which was close to the VC’s office. I usually buy Newspapers once in a week and that was during weekends because much of my reading was done with my small Nokia phone. Gradually, I started identifying blunt and prolific writers like Mike Awoyinfa, Femi Adesina, Douglas Anele, Okey Ndibe, Farooq Kperogi, Ruldof Okonkwo and others that time and space wouldn’t permit me to mention. In the whole of my first year in school, I bought over 50 newspapers from my small feeding allowance. I was so addicted to Newspapers. Some of my close friends back then in school will always remind me of how my apartment was littered with Newspapers. It was during this time that The Sun Newspaper recruited me to be their eagle eye in the campus but due to the voluminous nature of academic work at the department, it was increasingly difficult for me to combine the two task. So, I had to drop the job.
However, these writers significantly influenced my perception about craft writing. My love for the profession became unimaginable. Despite what some of my friends said to me when I was building the dream of becoming a writer, I did not get discouraged. I will not also fail to acknowledge the ones that supported me. I told myself, instead of me to give up on this dream, it’s better I die trying. Today, I’m still pressing on. Getting better and better everyday. Champions are forged in the heat of obstacles and purified in the furnace ceaseless urge to triumph.
After we lost my father, we visited his office to clear up some of his belongings but we were baffled when we evacuated over 800 Newspapers excluding the ones we had at home. I saw a Newspaper of 1980. These were some of the dailies he read before we were born. It was a veritable archive but the question then was, how can we keep all these Newspapers in a world where electronic media has already taken the centre stage? It was a big question for a young writer like me.
This story will be continued…..
Kalu Nwokoro Idika is a political analyst, investigative and freelance journalist