Eighty-five-year-old Peter Osugo tells PETER OKEUGO of his life as a journalist and member of the Zikist Movement
Where were you born?
I am an indigene of Delta State but I was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I came to Lagos to school. I had my primary school education both in Port Harcourt and Minna. My secondary education was in Lagos. I attended St. Gregory’s College. I was in the boarding house and my parents were in the North.
Why did you decide to stay permanently in Lagos?
I came to stay permanently in Lagos after my incarceration as a member of the Zikist Movement. We had been labelled ex-convicts by the government of the day. As an-ex-convict, in those days, you would not be able to secure employment in the public sector. But the West African Pilot, was owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, who was the arrow head of the Zikist Movement, on which account I was jailed. That was the job that brought me to Lagos. I worked at the West African Pilot as a reporter. That was how I came into journalism where I remained throughout my active years. It was from the West African Pilot that I moved to Daily Times.
Where did you start working ?
I first worked with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency though not as a geologist. I was never trained as a geologist. It is just like any organisation, and working there does not automatically make you a geologist.
What was the nature of your job?
I worked in the laboratory as a rock analyst.
Did you carry out any special project at the time?
I was not involved in any special project. It was just the normal routine work. As a worker there, you were either out in the field, breaking rocks and bringing them back to the laboratory for analysis or you were in the laboratory analysing rocks that were brought in by field workers. Those were the things I did at the agency.
How many years did you spend at the agency?
I did not work there for long. I was there for almost two years. After that, I moved on to journalism.
Why did you leave the geological agency?
Life is full of movements. And there are a lot of reasons for this. One of these is the type of life you want for yourself although, you have no absolute control over that. Most of the time, you only make do with what is available. If at a particular stage you have to do away with a particular field and move on, then, do it. You seize opportunities as they come. When I was with the geological survey agency, it was not to make a career. I only did routine jobs and I did not go to any school of geology or receive training in the field. I moved on because I had the opportunity to move into other fields.
What was your level of education then?
I had a school leaving certificate.
Did you go back to school after that?
No, I did not but I was always reading. Even when I was working, I was always reading and sitting for examinations. I did not stop reading because I was working. I did both at the same time. I wrote any exam that came across my path. I never stopped studying because of work.
I noticed you do not read with the aid of glasses ….
(Cuts in) No, I do not read with glasses but it does not mean that I do not wear glasses. I do, but they are not for reading. They are for short sight.
Who were your contemporaries at Daily Times?
There were many of them. Alhaji Babatunde Jose, Tunji Oseni and Peter Obe were some of my contemporaries. However, I was Obe’s senior in terms of position. I joined the organisation before him.
Why did you join the West African Pilot ?
I did not join the newspaper because I wanted to be a journalist. I went there because of the circumstances in which I left the geological agency. Those days, if you were an ex-convict, the government would not employ you. Then I was a Zikist who was jailed for political reasons. Thus, I was an ex-convict. I could no longer work for the government. I had to seek employment in other areas. That was what brought me to the newspaper world.
What offence did you commit?
I was not aware of any offence. The only thing was that the government banned the Zikist Movement of which I was a member. I think that was the offence. As a result of that, the government would not employ me; even as a former Zikist Movement member.
Was the Zikist Movement anti-government?
It was not anti-government. The Zikist Movement existed before 1960.
What was your experience during the civil war?
I did not participate in the war so I did not have any war experience. I never lived in the then Biafra. I lived in Lagos.
How would you compare journalism in your days to what obtains now?
Probably journalists these days are not committed and they are distracted by so many things. When you are distracted, naturally you cannot achieve the utmost in journalism. Those days, when we practised journalism, we were dedicated and did not look up and down for things. We loved and enjoyed what we were doing. It was through what we did that we achieved other things. We tried to do our utmost in the field. We were committed to the job and we did it efficiently.
Were there ‘brown envelopes’ in your days?
Brown envelopes are for journalists that have no calling for the job. There is no journalist worth his salt that you can give money to kill a story. In our own time, no amount of money could prevent a story from being published. When you get a scoop, it adds more to the level you have got to in the practise of journalism. It also increases the demand for you by other proprietors. It is like a yardstick for your progress. In my days, no one would buy you off if you had a scoop. Your career in journalism would be more stabilised and you would love yourself more. There is no amount of money you can pay a reporter to kill his story. You might try but you would not succeed.
Did you receive any ‘brown envelope’ in your days?
I never received any bribe to kill my story. It was my pride to get a story. Sometimes, my proprietors even published true stories that could land us in trouble, as long as they believed they were true.
Were you ever sued for libel?
I have been to court several times for libel but I would say I won because I did not go to jail for them. There were cases for which we deliberately refused to enter plea, and we were jailed. Even as Zikists, we did not recognise the British courts, we did not enter any plea. We virtually walked into the jail house.
How many times were you jailed?
I was not jailed many times. I went through that experience once, just like some of my colleagues.
How long were you in jail and what was your experience in jail?
I was jailed for six months. I had no remarkable experience because they did not allow us to mix with the prisoners. We wanted to mix with the inmates to let them know what was going on outside but they tried very hard to separate us from them. The prisoners looked up to us then as their messiah. They knew that the set of prisoners and young men they brought committed no crime and that they were only jailed to shut them up. That attracted the prisoners more to us than keep them away.
How old were you then?
Age did not really matter. We had among us young men of 18, 20 or 30 years and above.
What were your achievements as a sports journalist with the Daily Times?
There were lots of them. Everything I did was new and I won a couple of awards too. At one time I got the National Association of Nigerian Footballers award presented to me as a sports writer and commentator including Olusola
Saraki Tennis Foundation award for media excellence.
What remarkable part of your youth do you remember?
The most remarkable thing I still remember is the Zikist Movement through which we came to limelight and then went to jail. Because of that, a lot of people in my time who would not have known me knew me. The Zikist Movement was well organised. It was not a political party but we had some ideologies. We were committed to annihilating the British rule in Nigeria and enthroning Nigerians as their own rulers.
Was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe the founder?
No, he was not the founder. He was only the foremost politician at that time and his philosophies agreed with the philosophies of the youth movement. That was why we adopted the name but he was in no way connected to the Zikist Movement. People thought he was the founder but he was not and neither was he involved in its financing. All we used was his name. He was the politician that was at the firing squad for imperialism to go. There were other politicians but we thought he was the foremost.
What is your view about Nigeria breaking up?
As long as people have agreed to live together, they should stay together. If we are not together then why are we created together? The British came to conquer us and imposed their British rule on us. That was what the Zikist Movement was fighting against. We wanted Nigerians to be together. We did not want to be dominated by another country. That was why we fought imperialism to a standstill. The movement faded out as it came; it did not come to take over the rulership of Nigeria. Zik opened our eyes to governance and imperialism. We needed to know what we were fighting against and we went further to stamp out the evil.
Are you fulfilled?
I never aimed over and above my capabilities. I only aimed at the things that were possible and achievable then. I have no regrets about anything.
What do you eat to stay healthy?
I do not have any favourite meal. I eat anything that is edible.
What do you miss about being young?
Naturally, everyone who is old would miss being young. They are two different periods. I miss running around, which I cannot do at this age. Times have changed and I do not have that capability now.
What is your advice to young journalists?
They should try as much as possible to be factual in the stories they write and not publish hearsay. Stories have to be authentic. They should avoid shortcuts to making it. They should investigate before publishing.
What other training did you have?
I attended Sienna Institute of Theology for lay people at St. Dominics Catholic Church, Yaba.
How has life been in retirement?
Life has been normal for me; the only difference is that I no longer engage in the things I used to do. I no longer write as a routine. I only write if I am commissioned to. Some people can commission me to write about something they want people to read about. I get paid for it. If I also feel strongly about a viewpoint which is being thrown neither here nor there, I can decide to come out with my own viewpoint. Also, when I think that people are misrepresenting a particular view which is on the wrong side, I think it is my responsibility to put the whole picture right for the enlightenment of everyone.
How many children do you have?
In my family, we do not count children. We regard children as God’s gifts and they have come to be useful to the society in any form or shape. When we are blessed, we thank God. My wife had eight children but we do not have pictures of them hung in the house. We believe that children are for the world and have come to fulfil one precept or the other of the Almighty. We do not count them. We used to have pictures of children when they were born up till when they were two or three years old.
How did you meet your wife?
I met her in their house in Kano. It was a question of destiny. When my father was alive and I grew up to the age of marriage, my people were on my neck, asking me to bring a bride. I told them I already had a wife I would marry and that when the time came, they would know and would go to negotiate and pay the bride price. That was how it is done in my place. When you are old enough to marry, your father would marry for you. But in my own case, I chose the bride myself and directed him to where she was. He went there to pay the bride price. She lived in Kano with her parents but she was from Isoko, Delta State. I used to go to Kano for holidays. I had maternal uncles that lived there. Apart from that, her elder brother attended the same college like I did. During the holidays, we used to exchange visits. I used Kano as my holiday point so I would be able to see her. But she is dead now.
When did she die?
She died about two years ago.
Did any of your children tow your path in journalism?
None of them is a journalist, but my last child is the only one who has a flair for journalism and he is working for a communication firm. His is the closest to my former profession.
What are the secrets to a successful marriage?
Both couple should accept each other as part of themselves; that is how they would have a better understanding of themselves.
What do you do for leisure?
I belong to a lot of clubs; it is only now that I am retiring from those activities. I spend most of my days at home and people come to visit me. I have my television and hardly miss news time except I am sleeping or resting. Reading has always been a normal part of my life so it would not be a leisure activity for me.
How did you rise in your post as a journalist?
When the opportunity arose, I was given some responsibilities. And when you carry out those responsibilities, you are promoted.
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