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Media Icon, RAY EKPU Speaks
+His 50 Yrs In Journalism
Every one calls him by his first name, Ray. All through his professional career he was simply called Ray Ekpu. He prefers the simply Mr. title. All his colleagues were also called their first names-Dele, Dan and Yakubu.
The big news about him is that this Media Icon is 75. But he does not look that far gone in age. Not much has changed about this living legend in Journalism who was a co-founder of NEWSWATCH Magazine, along with the late Dele Giwa, who was the Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch and their other colleagues, Dan Agbese & Yakubu Mohammed.
A few days back, City People spent quality time with him, at his Lagos home, and we found out that not much has changed about this great Nigerian Media Icon. His sonorous baritone voice still reverberates. And still resonates. His eloquence is still intact. He is still as vibrant as he has always been. But age has mellowed him a bit. He now takes life easy. He now goes to bed early. And he loves to sleep a lot these days. Old age has made him slow down on his very many media activities. He no longer runs a 7am to mid-night schedule like before. But he is still very active professionally, along with his other colleagues, who are also co-founders and directors of Newswatch. Though Newswatch Magazine no longer comes out regularly like before, they have floated a new publication called Newswatch Plus, which keeps them busy. They produce this special publication once in a while, for those who desire it. They also write columns in various daily publications. And they write books and biographies. They are publishers who have produced books and various publications.
Commendably, Ray Ekpu still works closely with Dan Agbese, and Yakubu Mohammed, all of them, co-founders of Newswatch and Soji Akinrinade, who is a Director of Newswatch.
Ray, whose full name is Raymond, is not only celebrating his 75th birthday, which has attracted congratulatory messages from President Bola Tinubu and his state governor, in Cross River, he is equally celebrating his 50 years in Journalism. Ray Ekpu is a respected professional who has been described in various ways, in appreciation of his contributions to the industry he joined at age 20. Some have described him as a Living Legend, others call him Journalism icon or Veteran Journalist. But which ever way you choose to describe him, there is no doubt that he is one of Nigeria’s most celebrated journalists. At 75, he has paid his dues. He has seen it all, starting as a Cub Reporter, Editor and Publisher.
Many don’t know that he started his enviable career at the Nigerian Chronicle, and had worked at major media houses like, the Sunday Times, Concord Newspaper, before he and the other musketeers left to found Newswatch.
How does Ray Ekpu feel at 75, we asked him? What are his reflections in life at 75? “I thank God that I am 75. It is a function of God’s Grace. It is n ot by whatever I had done. God has been merciful, because I have been tried for Murder in my Journalism career, because of an article that I wrote, which was an analysis in 1983 talking about the pattern of dealing with Corruption at that time. People were setting fire to offices to obliterate the evidence of corruption. And there was corruption at the National External Telecommunications. I think it was N54 million and I wrote an article titled Sodom and Gomorah. And I said the government should be careful because the pattern of dealing with issues of corruption by those who are perpetrators is that they set fire to buildings and offices in other to erase the evidence. The article came out on Sunday in the Sunday Concord, the next day, Monday, some people set fire to NET Building”.
“And they came and arrested me that I probably knew something about it. That didn’t make sense. If i knew something about it, why would I write about it. They took me to court and charged me with Murder, because 1 or 2 people died from that fire incident. But God helped me because Murder attracts a death penalty. So, I thank God, I was freed”.
“The 2nd incident, was when we were charged with Mutiny. I was n ot in Lagos. I was on holiday in Akwa Ibom and Dan Agbese, my colleague, interviewed David Mark. He conducted the interview in London and David Mark said something to the effect that, Abacha was trying to overstay his welcome, that they had a time limit when they decided to remove Chief Ernest Shonekan, but that Abacha was extending his stay beyond the period that they agreed. That was the content of that interview. And they came and arrested Dan. I was on holiday in Akwa Ibom. When I heard that he was arrested, I rushed to Calabar Airport to board a plane and come back to Lagos and see how we can get him out. And they arrested me at the Calabar Airport and took me to DSS office, there in Calabar and kept me overnight. And the next morning, they took me in a Station Wagon. They put a drum of petrol in the station wagon. I was praying to God that the drum of petrol should not explode and catch fire and kill all of us. I was begging them that I will pay for their air tickets, lets all go by air. I said to them don’t worry I won’t jump out of the aircraft when its in the air. They said no, that the instruction is that they should go by road. So, we came by road and got to Awolowo Road. At that time, I saw that they had also arrested Yakubu Mohammed at Kogi where he went to see his family and then I sent a message to Soji, I said you are the only one not in the net now. Please just move from one place to another, don’t let them catch you. Otherwise, our operations will be grounded. I could have been killed. I could have been dead. During Abacha’s time, anything close to that would have fetched you death.”
“So, those are direct incidents affecting me as a Practitioner and as a Journalist. But what of the larger society itself. A lot of buildings have been collapsing in Lagos. You could just sit in a place like this and the building collapses and kills you. There are many, many ways in which people die”.
“There are so many frivolous deaths in Nigeria. And so, if you are happy to live to be 75, as I have, I think its largely God’s grace.”
“It is not by my power. Its not by my doing. So I am grateful to God”.
How did he celebrate his 75th birthday? “I did not celebrate it in anyway. The day before, my daughter, had twins. That is, my 1st girl. She had twins and we were having Thanksgiving on that Sunday. And I had to go with my wife to attend it and they provided lunch for people. They surprised me they bought a cake there and we cut the cake”.
“That was it. That was the only way we marked it”.
Looking back at life at 75, what are the lessons it has taught him? “That nothing is permanent. That is one of the lessons.”
“Nothing is permanent in life. Look at Emefiele. A few months back, he was roaring like a Lion. Now, he is in detention. That shows you that nothing is permanent. There are many lessons you can draw to show that life is a product of Gods help. There is nothing permanent in nature. The only thing that is permanent is Change. That is one lesson”.
“The other lesson is that you do not necessarily stay on one lane. You can stay on the fast lane, and then some thing happens and moves you to a slower lane. You can be walking on a slower lane, and then something happens that moves you to a faster lane”.
“Number 3 is that nobody controls everything that happens to him. God is responsible for a lot of the things that happens to us. We may also be responsible for part of what happens to us.”
“But a larger part of what happens to us, happens through Gods permission, through Gods Will, through Gods approval”.
-Seye Kehinde
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