Chief Tola Adeniyi, the former Managing Director of Daily Times, in this interview with ADEOLA BALOGUN speaks on his life experiences as a journalist and a writer
In the real sense of it, are you still working?
Of course, I am still working. You never retire from a profession; you can retire from a post and position. If you are a chief judge, you can retire as a chief judge but you are still a lawyer. So, I am a journalist and until I die, I will practise my trade. I am working in the area of media relations. I consult and of course, I still write. I write editorials for about three or four newspapers in Nigeria. I write columns under various names.
How did you come about your pseudonym, Abba Saheed?
It was in 1973/74, that was the height of Daily Times glory when (Alhaji Babatunde) Jose recruited so many graduates into journalism. I was lucky that I got noticed; I was very critical of (General Yakubu) Gowon’s administration and I was being harassed here and there. So, Jose called me one day and said, ‘Blacky, what is your Muslim name?’ I said Saheed and he said, ‘Since your initials are ABA, why not write under Abba Saheed so that people will think you are a Northerner?’ And because I used to quote copiously from the Qur’an, many years after, my readers from the North and the government officials thought I was a Northerner. That did the trick and the pen name has stuck since then. I have so many pen names; I used to write a woman’s column with the pen name, Busola Babat for Woman’s World. At that time, I was writing about 28 columns in Daily Times a week and there’s no way I could use just one name.
Was journalism a dream or you just stumbled on it?
I didn’t stumble on it; I started my career in 1959. Communication is part of my strength; communication in all its genres, whether in poetry, dancing, drumming or theatre. The love for the press was there, even in secondary school in Ago Iwoye, I had a press club and I was writing columns at that time and I did the same thing in Ijebu Ode Muslim College. When I got to the University of Ibadan, I founded the Writers’ Club in 1966 which had (Prof. Femi) Osofisan as a member. So, writing to me is giving expression to my thoughts and writing is the peg of journalism.
Were you more of a writer than a reporter?
Of course, I was also a reporter. I have always combined writing with reporting but I did more of feature writing and interviewing people. But I was chief correspondent of Daily Times in Western Region in 1973 before I became director of training in 1975.
As an insider, what would you say led to the demise of Daily Times?
I was chairman of the board and I was the managing director at the same time. After Jose, I was the only person who ever combined those two roles in Daily Times, so I could talk with authority having grown from being a reporter, chief correspondent, columnist, feature writer and ombudsman. What led to the demise of Daily Times is what would lead to the death of any organisation. As a husband, if you change your wife every two years, you will never settle. If an organisation changes its leadership every two years, that organisation will never make it. In a nutshell, that was what led to the death of Daily Times. Jose performed the miracles he performed because he was there for over 27 years as chief executive. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo spent eight years as premier in Western Region and he had enough time to perform. If he had spent just two years, nobody would talk about him today.
But some people attributed it to what Jose did by replacing (Areoye) Oyebola with (Segun) Osoba as editor.
Well, I wouldn’t want to go into all that. Maybe if that crisis didn’t happen, the government would not have taken over. It was like a crack in the wall and so lizards started crippling in. Maybe if that didn’t happen, maybe what happened to Daily Times would not have happened. It is possible. But it was a tsunami that nobody could wave off; it contributed largely to the decline in the fortunes of the newspaper.
How did you combine your job as a journalist with drama?
I am a dramatist. I am the founder of Tola Adeniyi Foundation for Theatre and Arts. Drama has always been in my blood and I have been acting since I was five years old. I acted even when I was in koranic school. I acted in major Shakespearean plays throughout my secondary school days and in the university. Even in the University of Lancaster, I was also the president of the drama club just as I was in UI. At the same time, I was also the president of the literary and debating society. In fact, most people thought I would end up as a theatre man because I had been writing plays from secondary school. I was also an akewi (Yoruba poet) on Radio Nigeria.
Why did you move out of Nigeria?
In 1993, it was very clear to me that Nigeria might be very unsafe for me even though I was close to (Ibrahim) Babangida, (Sanni) Abacha but much closer to (Moshood) Abiola. After the annulment, I just found out that I was between the deep blue sea and the devil; loyalty to Babangida, loyalty to Abacha and loyalty to Abiola and then I was arrested, detained and tortured in Abuja. I was charged with importing arms. So after I was released, I went to the UK; in fact it was my friend, the late Chuba Okadigbo that persuaded me to go and teach at Lancaster University. We went there together.
Did you actually import arms or was it because of your closeness to Abiola?
I didn’t import anything and they searched my house. We did not want Abacha to take over and that was clear. Of course, I was close to Babangida, Abacha and Abiola but I knew where my priority was. I am a Yoruba person, there’s no doubt who had my sympathy.
How did you come to know the late Chinua Achebe?
I was the first person to adapt Things Fall Apart into a play for both radio and television in 1966. Chief Segun Olusola took me to him at Broad Street then in Lagos to get his permission.
Is that why you canvassed that he should have been given the Nobel laureate?
In fairness to Achebe, he was a prodigy, a great writer and I don’t know what parameters they use to select people for that award. But in my judgement and assessment, I think Achebe deserved one.
Is that why you insinuated in a piece you wrote to honour Achebe that those who won the prize probably knew its politics?
The Nobel Prize like any other prize given to people is selective. And when you select, it is subjective; it is something subjected to human sensibility and sensitivity and therefore, there is politics. The Nobel Prize is a human organisation and every human organisation has its own bad side. I believe, that the Nobel Prize could also have been polluted.
Were you aware of the flak your piece generated?
I don’t know about any flak. I just wrote my piece and I gave myself peace.
But some people took you up that you probably had something against Professor Wole Soyinka.
I didn’t mention Soyinka’s name. If I say a rogue wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers came to my house and I didn’t mention your name and some of your friends now come to tell you that you are the one I am referring to, it is they who want to call you a rogue. Whoever says I inferred anybody’s name, it is that person who in his or her assessment believes that person is the person I was talking about.
What do you have against Soyinka?
Soyinka was my teacher; he taught me at the University of Ibadan in 1967 and I was chairman of Free Soyinka Committee when he was arrested by General Yakubu Gowon and imprisoned. I was the national president of Free Soyinka Committee agitating for his release and I suffered terribly for it in the hands of the military at Ibadan at that time for him in 1967. When he had his 50th birthday, I organised a party in my house; so he is a senior citizen, a world citizen, a respected genius.
But with your tone in the piece, people believed that somehow, something happened between you.
I am telling you whoever believed must be the one who in their judgement and their assessment are saying that piece had anything to do with an individual. I didn’t mention anybody’s name; so whoever mentioned that I was referring to an individual in that piece are those who are alluding to that individual, not me.
But in your estimation, did Soyinka deserve the laureate prize?
I have no comment directly on that question. My answer would be people who had done far less than what Soyinka had done in the literary world had got the award and those who had done much better than he had done had not got the award.
Some literary minds found it awkward comparing Achebe and Soyinka in terms of whether one is greater than the other. In your own case, can you compare the two?
You don’t assess the work of arts that way; you cannot take two paintings and say this one is better than that one, just like you cannot compare the dance patterns of the Tivs and say they are better than the Yoruba dance steps. There is no way I can compare Soyinka and Achebe just as I cannot compare Fela and Sunny Ade, I cannot say one is better but I can say categorically that Fela is the greatest African genius that Africa has produced.
When you acknowledged some literary icons in the piece, it was very obvious that you deliberately left Soyinka out, why did you do that?
I forgot to mention his name.
You also practised journalism abroad. With your experience, how would you compare the profession here and there?
I think it is poles apart; it is very difficult to make an instant comparison because they don’t have the challenges that we have here. You don’t have the kind of challenges we have here over there at all; to that extent therefore, we may not be in a position to make that kind of comparison. But I would say that in terms of maturity and with my experience in both worlds, I found that African journalists, particularly Nigerian journalists, are more reasonable, more mature and more intelligent in their assessment of situations when they write about a subject. They may not have as much information as the American guy, but they have maturity of minds. I would summarise the western press as idiotic because when you see things that they glamourise in their news reportage, you just wonder whether they think at all or whether they even went to school. But a Nigerian man, by the time he is in Form four, he knows the geography of the whole world. There are many people in America, Europe who don’t have passports. In fact, more than 50 per cent of all of the Americans never ventured beyond their land of birth from the beginning and the end of their lives. They do not have exposure and they do not care. They know little or nothing about other places. Former President Bush of the United States did not know the capital of Canada which is his next door neighbour. He thought Toronto was the capital instead of Ottawa. So they are so uninformed even though they have all the gadgets, so that affects the quality of their writing and their thought process and judgement. They may display a better use of the language because it is their language but even then, there are American professors, Canadian professors who are not as good even in the delivery of the language as a senior lecturer in Nigeria. So, in total, if they are doing better, it is because they enjoy better political and economic climate, not because they are better practitioners of the profession. I score Nigerian journalists much higher.
How did you cope as a journalist without the Internet and other modern technology in your days?
You don’t miss what you don’t know. Shakespeare didn’t have electricity and he wrote so copiously. Jesus Christ didn’t see electricity or motor car and yet he moved round and evangelised. So, you don’t miss what you don’t know. We didn’t know; there was no television in Nigeria until 1959; we didn’t feel anything. There was no radio at a point in time; we used what was available.
We learnt that the print run of Daily Times for instance was very high…
At a time, Gbolabo Ogunsanwo’s Sunday Times sold over 900,000. At a time, Oyebola’s Daily Times sold over 900,000 also. Yes it happened because the economy at that time was better than what we have today. There were not many newspapers and so people had limited choice. It was also the period when government could buy many newspapers for all the executives and of course, it was the freshness that Jose brought into journalism. Before then, most leading journalists had only school certificates; people like (Lateef) Jakande and (Olabisi) Onabanjo, even though they went to Fleet Street to do diploma; they were very brilliant people. Enahoro never came second in his secondary school days and it showed in the quality of their works when they assumed leadership in the profession. So, the golden era of Daily Times was the time Jose brought in about 18 university graduates in one fell swoop. The quality of feature writing improved and Jose was a virtuoso even though he didn’t go beyond secondary education but Jose could engage any professor anywhere in the world. He was a tremendous manager of human resources.
An artist could be an eccentric; what was your own weakness?
I wouldn’t know the assessment people would make of me but there is no doubt in my mind that because of the love I had for my mother, I had very deep sympathy for women. I see my mother in all women I come across and I would be the last person to make a woman cry. So, I radiate a lot within female circle. In fact, in my early days in drama, I was acting female parts. I am a social drinker but if there is any eccentricity, it would be more of behavioural manifestation rather than affliction; you could be moody in one moment and crazy in another moment. It happens to every creative person.
Since you were close to your mum, did she arrange a wife for you?
No, not in that sense. What I am saying is that I have empathy for women because my mother suffered a lot when she was growing up and unimaginably, that drew me very close to her when I got to know her story. She became so close to my ethos; I am inclined to embrace women and have them as pets because they are more reliable and dependable, honest and more loyal than men and they are better managers. So when you are in the hands of women, you are more likely to succeed than when you are among male friends. But more than that, my mother didn’t choose a wife for me. I had a less than three months courtship and I got married.
How?
I met my wife August 26 and that very day I met her, I fixed the date of our marriage. I met her mother that very day and I looked at the calendar hung in their kitchen and said, ‘Mama, I am coming here to take your daughter on December 2.’ The mother asked her whether the man that brought her home was drunk.
What happened?
I just saw her and something just told me she was going to be my wife. I knew her in the university but there was nothing intimate and she knew me as an actor in the university. When I felt I should get married, I had a number of girlfriends but when I saw the young lady again, I felt she was the right person. It was a very unusual meeting; the meeting was in my house. She came for a party and I saw her and said her face looked familiar and I asked whether she was at Ibadan and she asked me whether I was that actor in Ibadan. Unfortunately that day, I had a girlfriend’s car with me, my own car had some problems and I offered to take her home together with her father’s tenants with whom she came to the party. I took them home and I asked to see her mum. I went to their kitchen and I said, ‘Mama, I am getting married to your daughter on December 2.’
But that could be risky.
Well, we have been married for over 40 years and no third party has ever sat down to settle any quarrel between us. It has never happened and God blessed us with beautiful children who are doing well in their endeavours.
Some people would still be curious to know what you found so special to act that way.
She was beautiful, elegant; she had a good figure, good height good skin and very calm. I knew her in the university; she was one of those devout Christians on campus whom I wouldn’t have touched that time. I realised that she was a kind of a woman a crazy man should marry for stability.
Even though you are not in partisan politics, some people would say you hobnob with quite a lot of politicians…
I don’t hobnob; I am 70. I have lived long enough in this country to know so many people; so I am not hobnobbing. If you say I have relationships or I am associated with a lot of people, it is okay but not hobnobbing. All those individuals in politics that you see me with are individuals I associate with, not their politics. That is why (Governor Segun) Mimiko is my friend, he is in Labour Party; that is why (Gbenga) Daniel is my friend and when I was actually working with him, he was in PDP. (Segun) Osoba is my friend, a senior colleague; Rauf Aregbesola is my friend, he is in APC. He is a fine gentleman and I have known him close to 35 years. So, when I associate with them, I do that because of the relationship between us. (Kayode) Fayemi is a fine gentleman that I associate with. I associate with him as a good aburo of mine; so also is Segun Oni, his predecessor. Babangida Aliyu worked almost directly under me when I was in the presidency as permanent secretary. He is my friend. Bafarawa is my friend, he was in ANPP when he was my friend, Peter Odili was in PDP and so on like that. I am not concerned about their politics when I associate with them. If I know somebody’s politics is hurting people, I distant myself from that individual.
Somebody even insinuated that you wrote that piece about Achebe to spite Soyinka because of your association with Gbenga Daniel.
I worked with Daniel, I didn’t work for him. Whoever thought that way must have been very uncharitable to me; he must have insulted me. Daniel is far junior to me in age and you think a Daniel would ask me or inspire me or instigate me to write something against somebody? It is not Tola Adeniyi. No human being in this world can influence my thought. I could be stubborn to a fault in that regard. I don’t inherit other people’s prejudices. If Daniel and Soyinka had issues, it was their business. I was very close to Abiola; I would sleep in his house, Kanmi Osobu would come and pick me to Fela’s place. I would sleep in Beko’s place and from there, I would tell them I was going to Ota, Obasanjo’s place. I knew that the three of them were sworn enemies. So when I was with Abiola, I won’t discuss Obasanjo’s issues and when I was with Fela, I won’t discuss Abiola. If they had quarrels, it’s not my business. But I saw qualities in each of them that I thought I could associate with. So Daniel had nothing to do with my piece on Achebe. And I still insist that my piece on Achebe had nothing to do with Soyinka, except somebody is saying so.
People would find it a bit hard to believe you are 70. Having lived a very busy life, what is the secret?
I give myself peace of mind and my blood pressure is very low. I may not sleep before 2am but when I get in bed, I am gone almost immediately and I may not wake up throughout till the following morning. When I sleep, I sleep and nothing bothers me because my human expectations are very limited. I don’t expect anything from anybody but if you give me, of course I would take it. I don’t place my hope on any human being and so I won’t be disappointed. I could stay in the best hotel in the world but I can also sleep on a mat and I would not feel any difference.
At a time, you were in the presidency as a permanent secretary; how did it happen?
With the civil service reform of 1988, the post of permanent secretary became politicised; they could bring people from outside to come and head ministries. That was what happened in my case. I was appointed in 1991 and charged with the responsibility of moving the seat of the Federal Government from Lagos to Abuja. I was the one who gave the key of Abuja to Babangida in December 1991 and yet, I don’t have a house there. I disbursed billions of naira.
But you could have it if you wanted?
Of course, if I needed houses in Abuja at that time, I either allocated one to myself or asked Babangida to give me one. I didn’t ask for that or oil blocs. As I told you, I am a contented person; why would I need a house in Abuja? Even directors under me, some of them had four, five houses. We were the ones allocating houses to people; I was the one allocating houses to ministries but I don’t own one. Even the only land I owned there was taken over by Olusegun Obasanjo when he became president. He said I didn’t develop it.
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