Media Career Development Specialist, Lekan Otufodunrin, recalls how he made a futile passionate plea for one of his reliable reporters not to be sacked in a dream when he was Group News Editor in a national newspaper.
I was on leave when the news filtered to me that one of my most hard-working state correspondents had been sacked along with some other editorial staff of the company.
Unfortunately, though I was the Group News Editor which makes me one of the top editorial staff of the company, I had no say in determining who should be spared in the annual rounds of sacking decided in the hallow chambers of the meeting room where even title editors could be overruled.
I could have been sent my own sack letter if the Chairman of the meeting decided so. The fear that grips staff of the company when the meeting where such decisions are taken holds is no respecter of positions.
I was so aggrieved by the sack of my very dear correspondent that I dreamt that I was given the opportunity to defend him before a panel.
For more than an hour on my feet, I made a passionate appeal and gave reasons backed with evidence why he should be spared based on his outstanding performance.
I enumerated how he is one of the most productive correspondents who can be trusted to deliver well-written stories however late a story breaks.
Just weeks before the termination of his appointment, I was asked by the editor after midday to call him to proceed to the town of a military chief accused of plotting a coup and write a report for the next day.
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“Editor, can’t I go tomorrow? It will be late for me to return and start sending the story to Lagos. Please let me go tomorrow,” he pleaded.
“Start going now. It’s a directive from the editor. I know how long it will take you to get there before getting the story to write, but you have to go. If you don’t go, you are on your own,” I told him and hung up before he starts giving me any other excuse.
It was not the days of mobile phone or internet-for-all when he could have sent the story from the town before getting back to his base.
He took off to the town which is some distance from the capital where he is based. He travelled back to his station and wrote the story with lots of details no other paper had the next day.
The story was our lead story, but his byline for whatever technical reason was missing!
Expectedly, he called to complain about his missing byline despite all the sacrifices he made to get the story.
“Sorry I don’t know what happened. It’s an error. It happens once in a while due to production pressure. We know you are the writer. Ma binu (don’t be angry),” I responded as I was already thinking of the lead story for the next day.
“Please don’t sack him. He is very good. He is hard-working……,” I went on and only to wake up to realize I was dreaming.
The only concession to him and other affected staff based on the intervention of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Chapel was that they should resign their appointment in place of the sack letter.
He was gone with the wind like many before him, but I’m glad other media organizations found him as good enough as I thought and he has accomplished greater heights in the profession.
