Soldiers are said to work and live a selfless life, ready to die for their fatherland (or is it motherland). They fight with the sword, but philosophers say the pen is mightier than the sword. This means that those who work with the pen are even bigger fighters, and may be living more selfless lives. They are the Journalists.
Soldiers are properly recruited, properly trained, properly equipped and formally deployed, but Journalists often start the fight from any point the war happens on them; employed or not, paid or not, appreciated or not.
Whereas the soldier waits for and obeys the last command, the Journalist runs into wars and battles any day, any time. That is why they work every day. Thus, we say, everyday for Journalism, and maybe, just maybe, one day for the Journalist.
Yes, when I did the silver jubilee of my marriage, I dubbed it ‘One Day For The Journalist’, noting that every day is for journalism. The slogan caught fire. It reverberated in the hearts of journalists because they related with the reality and the truism.
The Journalist wakes in news and sleeps in news. He keeps his antenna at alert round the world round the clock in order not to miss out on anything, else, his editor will scold or shout him. His rating in the newsroom will drop if his editor is always ahead of him in what happens in his area of watch.
In being a good Journalist, he may become a bad father, husband, son, brother, sister, kinsman, church member, etc. He sneaks out in the heat of church service to answer calls or escape to an assignment. He returns late and leaves early in the morning. He keeps a very irregular schedule and may end up a bad guy, a street crawler, a ….
So, Journalists around the Niger Delta celebrated that one day for a Journalist in 2013 during my silver jubilee. And the sobriquet or slogan stuck.
Now, on April 9, 2022, my son, Obinna, took Ann to the altar. Journalists in the region found reason to snatch another day, this time, for the Journalist’s son. Obinna is not far from Journalism. Apart from being the first son of this veteran, he was also on the board of Silver News online before he went to work somewhere to return in future as CEO.
On this day, the journalism fraternity within the region did honour to the family with their substance and presence.
What greater honour is there for the sitting Commissioner of Information & Communications in Rivers State, Paulinus Nsirim, to attend on time and even sit with the officiating ministers in his right as a pastor.
What about the physical presence of the immediate past Commissioner of Information & Communications, Emma Okah, a lawyer who is pursuing his doctorate in his chosen profession?
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Then, Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner of Information & Communications before Emma Okah, and one-time interim Managing Director of the NDDC, who is also pursuing a doctorate in a nearby university, quietly! She too came in her full personality.
Now, note this; for Ibim to welcome the torturous challenge of climbing to the last floor of the 3-storey building with four floors, on the same day that her own then-boss, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, ran the 400 meters race round the new stadium in the Garden City, is no mere coincidence or mean feat. Any family qualified to extract such sacrifice from such a personality should count itself lucky. “Chukwu, I can only do this for you”, and tears welled up in my eyes.
The 300-capacity hall was pushed beyond capacity with very important personalities and sensitive guests, all because the son of a Journalist was leading a girl to the altar. It was a huge honour to me, to my son, to the new daughter joining the Journalism family, to the Journalism profession, and to the drive for credible news in the search for a true Nigeria.
Lesson: Journalism is worthy of any sacrifice. Also, my son and his wife now know they owe humanity a huge debt: to justify the union, to live and bear fruit to the society and make God proud. Nothing less, because to whom much is given, much is expected.
This is saying thank you to those who gave us this ‘One Day’.
