By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN
As a teenager, I was a member of “The Young Punchers”, a column reserved for young readers by The Punch to express their opinions on topical issues within the polity. The page was coordinated then by Madam Chinwe Ogbuka, and this got me glued to the paper even before I got the admission to study Mass Communication. Several years later when I needed to go for my internship, I did not think twice before settling for The Punch Newspapers. I submitted my letter to The Punch ahead and the request was approved on July 20, 1998 and I was asked to commence on the 27th of the same month. However, by the time I got to The Punch, the Head of Administration at the time who had swapped my place with another person close to her told me I had no space to undergo my internship. I felt devastated and confused as I came all the way from Kaduna prepared for the task ahead.
What you have just read is an excerpt from my book: “Persona Non Grata,” due to be unveiled soon. But today is Oga Gbemiga Ogunleye’s birthday.
I wasted no time in writing to the then Managing Director, Mr Ademola Osinubi, who mandated the editor, Mr Gbemiga Ogunleye , to intervene and he promptly did. By August 11, after my visit, the editor asked me to visit the admin department. As I was leaving his office that day, he gave me N200 (Two Hundred Naira) to support my transportation fare. By August 13, I finally secured a place for my internship but not without insults and name calling from the administration manager. I eventually resumed on August 17, 1998, following Mr Ogunleye’s intervention. On the day I eventually resumed, the admin woman looked at me and said in Yoruba that, “you have not started work, you are already writing a petition.”
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I told her it was not a petition per se but just to draw the MD’s attention to my plight. Here, I must single out Mr Ogunleye, who did not know me from Adam, yet provided a space for me to take my first step in the struggle for a place in the annals of Nigeria journalism practice. I will remain eternally grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to undergo my internship at The Punch in 1998. It was what prepared me for today. May the Lord continue to uphold him and his household. I thank God for sending him to me at that hour of need.
Note:
What you have just read is an excerpt from my book: “Persona Non Grata,” due to be unveiled soon. But today is Oga Gbemiga Ogunleye’s birthday. I know he may have forgotten. But I kept my diary. Help me pray for him and his children, please. May Allah send helpers their way. Happy birthday to you, sir! Aseyi se amodun, sir.
