Chris Anyanwu (2024), Bold Leap

Lagos: MayFive Media Limited. ISBN: 978-978-785-421-1. 612 pages

A series of bold leaps in media, entrepreneurship, and politics

• How Let Them Pay became the norm in Nigerian broadcasting

Chris Anyanwu states that her 2006 “foray into politics” was a “bold leap” motivated by “a stirring within me.” This endeavour inspired the title of her autobiography: Bold Leap.

In her vivid narrative, we encounter numerous bold leaps across media, entrepreneurship, and politics that characterise the diverse and vibrant life of this highly influential and knowledgeable professional.

Politics was only one of many leaps.

It is a rich and exciting narrative.

Caveat. Long read. 612 pages.

It is as rich as any biography can be. However, it has also sparked controversy involving former Governor Ikedi Ohakim. He lashes out with an astonishing account (fantabulous in our younger days) to undermine the author and retaliate against statements in the book that he considers defamatory.

I have reviewed the book in BusinessDay.

It is highly engaging and essential, justifying this second review, focusing on its specific contributions to entrepreneurship and professionalism.

Bold Leap is a primer on entrepreneurship for professionals on the job.

1.⁠ ⁠How do you strike out?
2.⁠ ⁠When should you do your thing?
3.⁠ ⁠Idea or funds: which comes first on the startup journey?
4.⁠ ⁠Hands-on experience and its challenges.
5.⁠ ⁠The Nigerian factor in business and how to navigate it. Anyanwu advises maintaining ethical standards, even if the cost is high. She exemplifies this courage, despite the consequences that led to her imprisonment during Abacha’s regime, remember?

Read also: Chris Anyanwu’s Bold Leap attracts bold responses

Bold Leap highlights the numerous brave steps taken by this exceptional journalist. It comes highly recommended for reading.

Persons desirous of leaving to do something independently will cherish Part Two of the book from pages 62 to 301. It covers 12 chapters. It is a significant and instructive heft.

Anyanwu shares her career journey, which includes entrepreneurship.

Media professionals and scholars will find Chapter Six, “The Arrival of Commercial News,” highly relevant in this era. In 1985, the federal government declared its incapacity to continue funding its agencies and parastatals.

“Consequently, the Director of News, Mr Yaya Abubakar, set up a committee to figure out how the NTA News Department could earn revenue without jeopardising the ethics of journalism and the quality of the news bulletins. Secondly, the Committee was to lay the ground rules for how this would be done.

“On the committee were Fabio Olanipekun, Felix Okoli, Chris Anyanwu, Godfrey Odu, Bayo Awosemo and E.A. Bakut.

“After two weeks, it came up with a report that brought about a turning point in the financial health of NTA News. `It turned NTA into a quasi-commercial entity by introducing news coverage for pay called Commercial News. The policy shift was tagged “Let Them Pay”, LTP for short.”

The foundation report defined Commercial News as “any event of commercial value or benefit to its organisers, whether corporate or individual, that enhances the public image and/or profit motive of the organiser. ”

The Committee outlined the benefits of preventing corruption, where staff members discreetly charged people for such reports, thus denying the corporation revenue. It aimed to address the issue of the “brown envelope. ”

Forty years later, the Committee has proven prescient. Let Them Pay is the foundation for the proliferation of private broadcasting in Nigeria. All the stations rely on LTP, which has been broadened to include events and activities unique to their localities.

LTP added more dimensions. Nigeria is one of a few countries where broadcast stations charge for news and have rate cards depicting that fact. Nigerian public relations people executing international briefs often have to write memos justifying the practice. Did LTP in broadcast news coverage stop the brown envelope phenomenon, or did it introduce further dimensions of the “corporate brown envelope”? The jury is still sitting.

Chapter Seven’s “Madam Commissioner” showcases another bold leap by Chris Anyanwu, who immerses herself in government work as the creator and implementer of policy rather than merely an informed observer. The Commissioner of Information supervised the media outlets of Imo State, including radio and television stations and the newspaper The Statesman.

Next, Anyanwu became a media entrepreneur. The book outlines the essential steps and processes that can serve as key lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, providing valuable examples.

1. “No money was borrowed to start TSM. It was all sweat money earned during this period of incredible struggle. And no one was willing to invest cash initially. It took two years for two people to agree to invest the little we needed to stabilise. By then, TSM had made a name for itself and become a massive editorial success.”

2. Contacts made on the job offered contracts evidently in place of brown envelopes she rejected earlier. Some came through; others displayed human nature.

3. “From that success in Bauchi, I moved to Kaduna, where my former colleague, Munir Jafaru, presided over the Ministry of Agriculture. I hustled him to find a job to supply Agric implements. It came through, and I earned another good amount of money. I would continue along this path, one step at a time.”

Chris Anyanwu moonlighted as a precursor to full entrepreneurship. While serving as the National Assembly correspondent for the Nigerian Television Authority, she conceived and executed the book project The Lawmakers: Federal Republic of Nigeria 2003-2007, ” published in 2003.