Life for ‘Dry Bones’
IT is a well-known fact that the media is one of the powerful tools that has been involved over the years in the shaping of society. This is because information is very important in every sector of man’s living on earth.
A former American President, Thomas Jefforson, underscored the importance of the media when he said “where it left for me to decide whether government without newspaper or newspaper without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the later”. This statement of fact has further proved the invaluable place of the media in the affairs of men.
Kogi State is one of the geographical entities in Nigeria that is blessed with intellectuals as far as the Northern part of the nation is concerned. When the state was created in 1991, no one needed a debate to press for the establishment of media houses. Luck was also on the side of the new state as the Radio Ochaja from old Benue State, Radio Otite and Egbe from old Kwara state were immediately inherited by Kogi State.
The print media came on stream when the erstwhile administration of Prince Abubakar Audu established The Graphic Newspaper in 1992. In an effort to make the newspaper have a smooth take – off-a building located directly opposite the present Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Lokoja, was allocated to it.
It is worthy to note that while successful administration have undertaken renovation work on the structure housing the Confluence Radio FM and Radio Ochaja, similar gesture has not been extended to the building housing The Graphic Newspaper.
For the past nineteen years The Graphic staff packed into their present location, no government has ever found it necessary to give the structure a face-lift. In the last four years wide cracks took over most of the walls of the building. Cockroaches and rats were competing with some of editorial staff who have to work in the night to enable the paper see the light of the day.
On the part of the management team and Editorial staff of the newspaper house, several write ups and editorials have appeared on the pages of the paper calling the attention of government on the dilapidated state of the structure.
Reprieve however came the way of the newspaper house when Governor Ibrahim Idris decided to give a face lift to all the state owned media houses. The state government promptly released the sum of N20 million for the renovation of Confluence Radio and N9.1 million for the renovation of The Graphic Newspaper.
The management and staff of The Graphic Newspaper ever remain grateful to Governor Idris for being the first governor since the creation of the state to pay serious attention to the poor state of its structure. Today, The Graphic premises is fenced and this has gone a long way in reducing the security threat that has hitherto hunted the staff working with the media.
On the renovation of the main building, the state government has positively transformed the outlook of the structure. Standing from outside the gate leading to the structure, one can easily appreciate the new face of The Graphic when compared to the hitherto falling structure that was housing the media house.
While the renovation work was on-going, staff of The Graphic had to work under the tree to ensure that the paper does not go out of the streets. It is the zeal of the staff of the media house coupled with the fact that it is the only state media house in the whole Northern Nigeria that has remained a float that has made even the outsiders to ask for a befitting structure for the media house.
When the staff of the media house were working side by side with the renovation work going on, they seized the opportunity to make some observations on some defects. The contractor handling the job however claimed he was working according to specifications. When both parties could not agree on a common ground, the contractor however did the job in what he referred to as contractual agreement.
The handling of the renovation work never went well with the staff of the corporation thus prompting a front page story of The Graphic dated November 26 2008 titled “CONTRACTOR ABANDONS SITE”. The story raised a lot of dust thus prompting Governor Idris to pay an impromptu inspection visit on the organization.
On Friday November 28, 2008, the Governor who was accompanied on the visit by the state Commissioner of Works, Dr Abubakar Abdulkareem and other top governmental functionaries was received by the General Manager of the corporation, Pastor Ezekiel Oyekanmi. The General Manager conducted the Governor round the renovated offices and appreciated his gesture in giving the structure a new outlook.
In a swift response, the governor expressed his displeasure over the story on The Graphic that the contractor has abandoned site. According to him, “your story portrayed the contractor in a bad light; it is as if he has not done anything at all. You have misled the general public on the story”. He added by saying that “”if there was anything needed to be added in the renovation work, your management should have written to me and I will give an approval.”
For those of us who have been working under a dilapidated structure for years, the sincere bid to ensure a good work is carried out on the structure is clearly understandable.
When reprieve therefore came our way through the fire work of renovation, staff wanted a total overhaul of the structure at a go. It was like Oliver Twist, as the Production Editor Mr. Abel Ada – Musa, puts it in his column asking for more and more.
I hope the governor would pardon us. We cannot be tempted to say what we wrote was the usual Journalistic alibi of “the devil print”. We take full responsibility. I believe it was borne out of our zeal to give the best of our skills to the state government if the ideal working condition is placed at our disposal.
The Governor in his usual magnanimity also took notice of some of our complaints. As a matter of fact, while he was still at the premises of The Graphic he called the attention of the Commissioner of Works, Dr. Abdulkareem Abubakar, to forward the new request of our organisation to him as soon as the management staff submits the list of areas that need to be amended to his office. Every staff of the corporation applauded the governor’s statement. It was one statement which brought the soothe on the governor’s first light stroke on the published story.
I believe the contractor who handled the job should by now be very thankful to his “chi” but perhaps there couldn’t have been any smoke without somebody, somewhere lighting a stroke of matches on a bunch of stick. Between the contractor and the staff of The Graphic there is no victor no vanquished. The governor chided The Graphic staff for an outrageous story on the renovation work and at the same time, urged the management staff to submit the list of more things that are needed to be done on the office complex. To me, it is a balanced way of a governor settling two erring children of his.
A journalist’s job is very complex. Going by the 1999 Constitution chapter 2 section 22, a journalist is expected to hold the government accountable to the people. This onerous duty of a journalist has always placed him on collision course with a lot of people in the society. In spite of this, a sound minded journalist cannot but carry out his duties within the ambits of the nation’s constitution.
I strongly believe that journalists working with The Graphic newspaper and their colleagues across the globe would continue to perform their duty by making the society its first constituency. I believe this is the only way we can help in building an egalitarian society.

•Commissioner of Information, Dr. Tom Ohikere (centre)
discussing with General Manager of The Graphic Newspaper,
Dr. Ezekiel Oyekanmi (right) after the later paid a courtesy visit
to the corporation during renovation exercise. Photo: Alao Sunday.