My attention has been drawn to the activities of some rabble rousers in masked form attempting to cast aspersion on the integrity of the co-publishers and co owners of Trumpeta newspapers, a 12-page newspaper with bias for Imo state and South South/South East state; Messrs Gerry Ogu, Henry Ekpe and my humble self, Kelechi Mejuobi.
Their activities which initially appeared more like a ribald joke first got attention in a fake facebook account operated and shared by the suspected musketeer working for a peculiar interest linked to a behemoth office holder. The Chief Executives of Trumpeta ignored it because the write-up was nothing but a malnourished piece embellished with tissues of lies and unquantifiable concoctions.
Piqued that their wishy-washy report which are nothing but a gobbledygook did not get the desired attention and response from the targets (Trumpeta Crew), a notorious turncoat and high way poster, whose stock in trade is handling of hatchet jobs was on the move again when he resumed his infamous blackmail trade. While enjoying material and logistic back-ups from an overnight political super star who rose from a mere “house boy” to certain elevated position in the present cabinet of Rescue Mission government, the habitual truculent fellow began his journey to hell by moving from one Owerri based medium to the other, to place the jaundiced work to be published as a paid advertorial.
After junketing from one media house to another and was rebuffed, one semi-whore masquerading as a publisher of a pedestrian newspaper in Owerri, accepted the advert job for a paltry sum of N20,000. Even as this tendentious script was also rejected by the medium of the Imo state governor’s spokeman Sam Onwuemedo of White Paper, the promiscuous lady and free loader gave it attention. The woman of easy virtue in her usual style of playing fifth columnist among the pack of publishers in Imo, again abandoned decorum and chose to trade off media fraternity because of crumbs and penchant for swapping private items reserved for her husband of four children to randy politicians and ill moral money bags. To satisfy those who “chop her supposed precious Oga food” the dark skinned woman whose media profile is swanky exhibited paucity of media practice by accepting an advert authored and endorsed by a fictitious name.
Since the itinerant “job man” who has inglorious history of undertaking “Food is Ready” assignments, and his shameless paymasters are ignorant of the rich journalistic pedigree of the Trumpeta triumvirate, they still adored and courted their relationship, this commentary will serve them as food for thought.
Ordinarily, one would have ignored the senile advertorial because of the cowardice showcased by the lead perpetrator of the act who not only failed to use his name to author the work but also displayed infantile delinquency not worthy to be reckoned with in the piece. I wish it was notable names in the media team of the Rescue Mission government of Gov Okorocha like my friend, brother, and colleague, Sam Onwuemodo, or my “Oga” and friend too, I fondly called Ndaa Toe Ekechi, the SSA to the governor on Media and commissioner for information respectively, are behind the write-up. As career media professionals, the certified media agents of the governor cannot apply the disgusting approach of the fast emerging Trumpeta tormentor. Onwuemedo knows the job of the media in a democratic set up and recognizes that politics is a media game and cannot be divorced from journalistic commentaries concerning actions and inactions of the actors, unlike the recently recruited megalomaniac who shines in image handling mercantilism.
I am aware that Onwuemedo may not forget in a hurry that while he used his pen in his popular X-ray column in Announcer Newspapers and his cherished tabloid WhitePaper Newspaper to analyze inadequacies of the immediate past administration of Ikedi Ohakim and to an extent unleashed scathing remarks on the Imo State House of Assembly and my principal, the Speaker, who I served as Chief Press Secretary, I maintained my cool and appreciated his criticism by recognizing that as a colleague, Onwuemedo was doing his job. That is an acceptable procedure in ethical journalism. Despite the tirades Onwuemedo may have poured on my boss, in the course of discharging his duties during that era, he is alive to testify that I never picked my pen to respond to any of his fireworks. Because he is a professional doing his job of unearthing oddities noticed in that government in line with the role of the media as a watchdog of the society, I enjoyed his criticisms as a corrective measure in order to avoid cross fire of pernicious media attacks.
In the course of my job, as CPS to number three citizen of the state, I learnt in a PR on image handling about a witty saying by ex-American president, Abraham Lincoln, that is applicable in media relations that “the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend”
Therefore, I am surprised that instead of allowing the sleeping dog lie, a particular social media misfit under the decoy of pontifying his noveali rich new slave drivers attempted to question the integrity of Messers Ogu, Ekpe and my humble self.
According to his sponsored diatribe that suffers intellectual kwashiorkor, we have no history in the media industry and only came to raise a newspaper allegedly poised to be the mouthpiece of opposition against the present Rescue Mission government of Imo led by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. In his feeble attempt to deceive unsuspecting readers, the serial impostor claimed that I only wrote for strings of Ikwerre-based newspapers before I was appointed Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Imo Speaker in 2007, and Ogu has no known history in media practice while Ekpe only wrote for Announcer Express and few other local medium to be considered a Chief Press Secretary to the former governor.
I laughed off after going through the half baked piece because it is often said that “anybody who removes his cloth to pursue a nude mad person has invariably turned mad too in the process” But for the sake of the reading public who may give the bile a look, be it known that the first expression in the write up shows that the writer(s) and their co-travelers are wallowing in grandeur of delusion about the media profile of the triumvirate. While comments are free in journalism, facts are sacred and not incontrovertible with misleading views. I have a history and can be said to have paid my dues among my contemporaries in the pen publishing profession for active practice of not less than 18 years. For the avoidance of doubt, I began my journalism practice in 1996 during my youth service year in Calabar, Cross River State when I was a club reporter for Cross River State owned Chronicle newspaper after graduating from Uniport in 1995. Chronicle is Imo state government version of Statesman Newspaper.
I went back to Lagos after the service year and joined one of the most vibrant daily afternoon newspapers called Prime Sunset Newspaper in 1997. Prime Sunset was one of the top-rated prodemocracy outfits alongside PM News and Tempo Magazine used by pro-democracy and civil rights group like NADECO and CD, to campaign against military dictatorship of late Sanni Abacha. Abacha’s security operatives in several Gestapo-styled raids attacked the Prime Sunset editorial crew with sporadic arrests. While writing for Prime Sunset newspapers, I met the likes of Val Okara of the Sun, Owerri office, who as at that moment was Crime Reporter for Champion Newspapers, in Lagos. We met at several assignments during police briefing handled by former IGP Mike Okiro as commissioner of Police, Lagos. When the Abacha men seized my publishers intermittently and made production difficult, I ceased from covering general beats to ease from the system for fear of arrests and joined one of the former leading brands in sports journalism of the 90’s, called National Sportslink newspaper, Lagos. In Sportslink I met several persons including another good friend in the job, Cajethan Nkwopara, who left Sun Sports to be Heartland FC of Owerri Media Officer. While Nkwopara was as a Reporter in Sport’slink, I came in as Senior Staff Writer who handled Nigeria League beats and African Football pages. Our Sportslink Circulation Manager in Owerri, Chief Nwanozie is still in No5 Rotibi Street Owerri, home of national newspapers to testify. The death of the owner and an amiable son of Naze, Owerri, Chief Ejikeme Nze, yours truly with other editorial staffers migrated to other medium to play our trade, when the operations of the newspaper became shaky. I joined a famous name in sports broadcasting, Tayo Balogun, (Uncle T) to run daily sports programes in NTA Channel 10, Victoria Island Lagos in 2002. The interesting Sports programme was called Sports @7. It was in the course of running the programme that I was among the few Nigerian journalists who went to Mali to cover the 2002 Nations Cup in June/July, played in the West African country. On my return and to prepare for the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup, the Sports @7 crew started a weekly sports magazine edited by Tunji Coker. At the exit of Coker who went back to Today Sports owned by Paul Bassey, I stepped in as Acting Editor having performed as Assistant Editor of the TV program and the new newspaper. However, the early ouster of Super Eagles from the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan preliminaries was a death knell to the Sports @7 Newspaper. Patronisers and advertisers dropped drastically forcing us to concentrate in TV programmes only. The Sports programme was extended to MITV & Star Hot Fm, all in Lagos.
After the eventful sojourn in sports journalism, I found myself in the secular print media organization again as a pioneer editorial staff of New Age Newspapers in Lagos in the early 2003. New Age Corporate Office was at Iganmu, behind National Theatre.
After formal orientation and dress rehearsal exercises to herald the national daily into the newsstands where the former CPS to Governor Ohakim, Steve Osuji was founding editor, I was posted to Owerri as Bureau Chief and senior correspondent for Imo state on February 12, 2003. That was how I landed in Owerri after spending a reasonable part of my life in Lagos pushing the pen for news hunting purposes. My first assignment in Owerri was the official opening of Heartland Radio FM of Radio Nigeria, by late First Lady and wife of ex-president Obasanjo, Stella Obasanjo. She was accompanied by Dr Mrs Kema Chikwe who was also Aviation Minister. In all my narration where was Rivers State mentioned? How come the purveyours of falsehood accredited Ikwerre Newspaper to my profile. Does my Uniport background or near Ikwerre descent translate to “strings of newspaper?.
In Owerri, I also distinguished myself as one of the foremost journalists and later became secretary of the Correspondents Chapel, of Imo NUJ. I still carried my fearless journalistic orientation and ethical respect to Owerri. Only those who were not around in the state or with short memory will not remember that it was Kelechi Mejuobi who reported the story concerning what happened to former Governor Achike Udenwa at late Sen. Amah Iwuagwu’s burial in Obazu Mbieri in May 2005. The press crew present had a vintage position inside the church and observed what happened during the burial mass. Ironically, I was surprised that moments after the incident, my colleagues responded to an invitation by then image maker of the former governor (names withheld) who asked them to Government House to “debrief” them about the news worthy Obazu Mbieri Anglican Church scene. Since they were persuaded and charged not to write what they saw, I took a different option and wrote what I saw because of my strong belief in norms of the job. The following developments are better told another day. Suffice it to note that I was justified and proved right against the deceptive acts of my numerous colleagues who compromised the story.
The CPS then who happens to be my pal today almost lost his job for “poor finishing” and inability to handle properly the “damage control” of the incident despite getting the desired “logistics” to “kill” the story. Only those familiar to this story and terminology will grab the subtle explanation. I remained defiant and stood my ground on the story. After acknowledging the government refutal authored by the media aide who was not at the scene of the incident, I added fresh details of what happened inside the Anglican Church premises to buttress my point and further authenticate my story. A transfixed helpless Udenwa media team later opted for rapprochement for strategic partnership and the matter was settled in the office of the then information commissioner, Barr Chris Okewulonu with then NUJ officials led by Chief Val Okechukwu and Chief Fidel Onyeneke, chairman and vice chairman respectively.
In 2007, I never worked for any party during the general elections. I played my role as an unbiased umpire while monitoring the conduct of the election. The truth is that Rt Hon Goodluck Opiah who was elected Speaker later in June while making inquires about his would be media aide consulted the new NUJ Chairman, Chief Onyeneke. Onyeneke endorsed my name as rightful person qualified for the position based on antecedents and rich profile.
Against the backdrop of the sarcastic remark on Ogu’s media background, the naughty fellow who always ran to the Managing Editor of Trumpeta for favours easily forgot that the history of journalism in Imo cannot be written without a mention of Ogu’s name. If Ogu’s offence was that he ran for the House of Assembly party primaries in 2007, only political neophytes will deny Ogu’s name in the media industry. Onwuemedo can also testify that he and alongside ageless warhorse in the media field, Chief Chidi Nkwopar , Gerry Ogu, Chucks Ilozue and Clement Nworji all of National Concorde, Thisday, Guardian and Champion Newspapers respectively authored the achievements of the last military administrator, Col Tanko Zubairu in 1990s. Before Nigeria’s democracy, Ogu was with Thisday Owerri, Office while Onwuemedo served Vanguard as Imo State Correspondents. He forgot that Ogu caught his teeth in the Catholic news tabloid of Owerri Archdiocese, Leader Newspapers, in the 80’s. After that he wrote for Chronicle as Owerri Correspondent, pioneered Thisday, National Interest Newspapers and lately Compass Newspapers offices in Owerri as Bureau Chief before appointment in the last dispensation as coordinator of Ikeduru East Development Centre. If he thinks the Trumpeta triumvirate has no history like one of his pay masters who migrated from “house boy” and “driver madam” to oversee a ministry where knowledgeable bureaucrats are abound, he should have known that Ekpe is synonymous to Announcer and Announcer is Ekpe.
The first job Ekpe did as University of Uyo graduate is journalism and the place is Announcer from 2000 till 2009 when he was appointed CPS to the governor. Notable names in the local print industry who had brief stint or still in Announcer are Ekpe’s product. Ekpe cannot be divorced from Announcer because he made the newspaper tick. No doubt Ekpe the vitriolic writer after his CPS job joined other seasoned and tasted ferocious pen pushers to establish Trumpeta.
Names like Ken Uwasomba, Editor, (White Paper) Emeka Nkwoada Editor, Announcer, Emma Madumere (Editor Announcer) Steve Uzoechi state correspondent of Telegraph et al passed through him during his days in the newspaper.
The magic wand Ekpe exhibited in making Announcer the best has also been transferred to Trumpeta
However, permit me to give a little insight to the shameless cameleon Rescue Mission adherents and Imolites should be mindful of because he thrives in mischievous roles. In the last dispensation, this bloody lick-spittle and errand boy who syndicated the work was a hired spin doctor to supposedly market the out-of-favour Clean and Green programme of Ikedi Ohakim government. Similar to what he is showcasing with the Rescue Mission, his overzealous acts drew the ire of the public over the illicit manner he discharged his duties. His dastardly acts laced with unorthodox method indeed earned the immediate past government knocks in the hands of Imolites. He solely attracted negative publicity to the programme following his high profile zhizophrenic style of operation that was at variance with the spirit of the programme Chief Willy Amadi supervised. Because the regime he campaigned and worked for was unsuccessful in the 2011 election to get a second term, the fellow employed fresh heinous tactics to survive fangs of poverty. Apart from cheap blackmail against Okorocha government, he shifted ground to another PDP chieftain seeking to run for 2015 guber election. He went berserk and fired anybody believed to be an obstacle on the way of his new paymaster who is from Mbaise.
No wander he chose to consistently carry out mudslinging against another profiled Mbaise politician, Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha to justify the pittance from the Reps Deputy Speaker’s kinsman also running for governorship in the party. His character traits has manifested again when as a smart alec, he has been foolishly hooked by a pay master who in collaboration with other political vampires now recklessly purloin the commonwealth of Imo people, forgetting that “Ukwu na aga wam wam, anya na ahu wam wam, na ele ya” (A sharp eyes also observes a sharp leg) Just for filthy crumbs from the table of his mate who is opportuned to be at the corridors of power, the megalomaniac young man has began another politics of the stomach.
For the female publisher, her excuse that she never knew the contents of the fictitious advertorial is part of her footprints of ethical misadventures that have earned her a backlash in the community of publishers in Imo state. I only pity her husband who may have called it quit with the marriage because of her suspected sexual escapades with power mongers who toss her around like the Word Cup training ball.
Let me end here for lack of space until next week when I will possibly unmask the fellow behind the mask while going further to reveal the latter part of his disjoined expression. By the time I make public his earlier punches at the Okorocha government and recent volte face to be Rescue Mission misery attack dog, readers shall discover if he is not a bloody merchant of lies and purveyor of false hood. I will leave a final sentence drawn from the wise saying of Aldus Huxley who opined that “facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”. Until next week when the “second base” will commence, thanks for the patience of reading my epistle.
