Mr. Azuh Arinze is a celebrity journalist of note, having made his mark, not only as a reporter, but editor. Through the dint of hard work and the grace of God, he rose from being an ordinary “IT boy” in a weekly magazine to become an Editor within a relatively short period. He ruled his world and enjoyed fame.
Remarkably too, the publisher of Yes International Magazine has become known as one of the few Nigerian journalists with many successful books to their credit. In this interview by SAKIBU OLOKOJOBI, Arinze tells his journalism story and how he has ventured into writing books and making a success of the enterprise. Among other things, he shares his experience giving details on what it takes to be a successful journalist and author. Excerpts:
You have made a mark as an entertainment reporter, editor and publisher of online newspaper. How did your journey in journalism start?
I never wanted to be a journalist. My first love was Law. I wanted to do Law. I grew up in the ghetto, a place called Maroko, in Lagos. Although that was not where I was born, I was born in Anambra State. I’m from Azia in Ihiala of Anambra State. My parents, back then, were living in Nsukka; Nsukka is in Enugu State now, but back then it was in Anambra. I read up to Class 2 there, then, my father left public service and went into business. The family relocated to Lagos. We were living in Maroko, but I attended an “ajebota” secondary school, Victoria Island Secondary School. Back then, I was good in English; as a matter of fact I used to represent the school in debates. I was a member of the Literary and Debating Society. I was also a school prefect; I was a Labour Prefect. It happened, however that I didn’t do well in English in the WAEC examination to the disappointment of everybody. So, the one year that it took me to retake English I was staying in one of my father’s shops, selling bags, shoes, clothing materials. I was controlling money at the period because my father was doing fairly well at his level. I used to buy Saturday Punch. That was how I fell in love with the Entertainment column of the newspaper. Then, it was being anchored by the gentleman called Azuka Jebose-Molokwu. He is in the United States of America now. I fell in love with the column. That was how the interest grew. After some time, Mr. Jebose-Molokwu left for the United State of America, Mr. Femi Akintunde-Johnson took over. I also started buying Fame Weekly. One day, they organised a quiz competition, it was called Fame Reader of the Month. I was the first winner of that competition.
What year was that?
That was in 1993. The star prize was N10,000.00. The day I went to collect the money, I went with my father. When we got to Fame office at 16 Eleruwa Street, Wemabod Estate, Off Adeniyi Jones, in Ikeja, I saw Mayor Akinpelu – young, well-dressed; I saw Femi Akintunde Johnson –also looking very nice. I saw Mr. Kunle Bakare too, also looking very nice. That was when I did what I would call career detour and abandoned Law for Mass Communication.
When we got back home, I told my father that I would read Mass Communication. I liked the way they –Kunle Bakare, FAJ and others – were looking: Very young, well-dressed. Even the way they received us… My father wasn’t favourably disposed to my going for Mass Communication. Anyway, I wrote JAMB and was offered admission in one of the earliest polytechnics in Enugu. It was called OSISATECH. The school is owned by the Catholic Reverend Father who also owns Madonna University – Reverend Father Emmanuel Mathew Paul Edeh. I went there for my OND (Ordinary National Diploma). When it was time for my IT (industrial training), I dropped the letter for Mr. Femi Akintunde Johnson because I knew where the office was. When it was time to get the reply, I had to go to Ikeja from Maroko. There was phone then, but my father didn’t have a phone. When I got there, FAJ wasn’t around, but I met one man who was like the Production Manager. He said Mr. FAJ gave him the date for me to come back. When I came back, Mr. FAJ said they had accepted me. Asked when I should resume and he said if I had any story, I should sit down and write it.
I sat down and wrote my story. It happened that the first five stories I wrote, surprisingly got to the cover of the magazine. Because I would just come, drop my story and go and wait for Tuesday when the paper would come out, Mr. Kunle Bakare who was the Managing Editor of the newspaper said I should see him whenever I come. When I saw him, he said, “Young man, you have automatic employment.”
Don’t do whatever other people are doing, because if you do, you will get the result that every other person gets. But if you are distinct, if you are unique, people will always say there is something different about you.
That was what year?
It was in 1994. I can’t remember the exact date off hand. All my life, I never applied for job. I have never written “I beg to apply” anywhere. That was how I started. My rise was very very meteoric. I was at Fame Weekly for just three years. After that, there was a crisis that led everybody resigning en-masse to go and set up Encomium. I spent 14 years at Encomium, and out of the 14 years I spent at Encomium, I was Editor for eight years. After 14 years in Encomium, eight of which I was the Editor, I felt I didn’t have any point to prove there again. That was why I resigned, willingly, with my eyes wide open, to go and start Yes International Magazine, and to the glory of God, Yes International Magazine has been running for 14 years now. That is my story.
You were only an intern when you were given automatic employment and that is remarkable. I know you said your first five stories hit the cover of the magazine. What, other things would you say you did to merit the automatic employment?
Much later, at the end of my industrial training, I was to go back to school. I was in Lagos and schooling in Enugu, you won’t believe it. It was crazy, but I was able to do that, not by my strength but by the grace of God. How did I do it? I knew what was expected of me. That was how I got to know about going beyond the call of duty. I knew the number of stories I was expected to submit every week, but to ensure that my absence wasn’t felt, I was submitting double the number of stories I was expected to submit. I was expected to submit four stories, but I was submitting eight. Infact, on some occasions, I would submit 12. The truth is, I was going beyond the call of duty, even in Enugu. While in Lagos, I knew the kind of stories they were looking for. One of my biggest strength is to conduct interviews. So, sometimes, I would go after the big stars. There was nobody in Nollywood that I didn’t interview when people could not get to see them – Pete Edochie, Liz Benson, RMD, Genevieve, Omotola… anybody. I would have interviewed some of them between five to ten times then. I was always taking the stories from different angles. I will take on angle this month, the next month I will take another angle. Over time, what I found out, and what my editors taught me was that if you give an editor an interesting story, he would take it; and if you come from an angle that others have not explored, he will take it. Two things worked for me. One was the grace of God; I cannot discountenance the grace of God in whatever thing I have been able to do. The second one was that I was going beyond the call of duty. We were expected to submit four stories but I was submitting eight or twelve. Infact, I remember that if I had not come back to the office, especially on Friday, my editors would say, “A ma duro d’Azuh o” (We have to wait for Azuh). You know why? They knew that whenever Azuh came, if they had produced the cover, they would have to change it. I would always come with something that everybody would say, bring this one up. They also encouraged me; they supported me. That is one of the reasons I always say I don’t care where you come from. My editors never wanted to know where I came from. All they cared about was who was performing. That was why they were promoting me. Only a foolish boss would say if it is not Yoruba I won’t do this, if it is not Yoruba or Hausa, I won’t do that. I never believe in all those things. They never worked against me. All they were about was your delivery. So, if you ask me, I would say it was God and the fact that I was going beyond the call of duty.
I used to go close to Bianca Ojukwu, which was the reason she was at my wedding. I would go to her every month, do fresh interviews and explore fresh angles. We may talk about Ojukwu today, and beauty pageantry tomorrow. We talked about different things each time I went to her. Jay Jay Okocha, then too. I was at his wedding, I went to his house, spoke to his wife. I knew when they started dating… I was always coming up with fresh angles. Even Senator Ken Nnamani. Although I was not close to him, but I wrote stories about him. I would go to Jim Nwobodo’s place. That was when I was in school. I would write the stories, give to bus people who would bring them to Lagos. There was nothing like computer and I wasn’t doing fax. I would tell someone to collect the stories and give to them in the office. Then, I was young and free. All that I had to do was get the work done. I had some wonderful sources too, both in Nollywood and outside of it. They were dependable and reliable. Put a call through and they would tell you what was going on. Those were some of the things that helped me.
What was more of a push to you in doing the job? Was it the pecuniary gain or sheer love for it?
I never paid any attention to money, I must be very frank with you. My joy was just that in Enugu or in Lagos, I would pick up copies of the magazine and see my stories – whether inside or the cover. That was enough for me. If I paid attention to money, I would, perhaps have been richer by now. The driving force was just to get the work done, and my bosses were always encouraging me, saying I could do better; I was on the right track. At 26, I was an editor. I edited Reel Stars magazine and at 33, I became the Editor of Encomium. The encouragement was massive. Even when I had some people who were wondering how I was doing it and trying to frustrate me, my bosses were solidly behind me.
Can you share any experience of attempt to frustrate you?
There was an instance that something happened. I think that’s one of my best stories that I have done in my journalism career. When I went to cover the Otokoto riot. Some of my course mates were from Owerri. So, I visited them and I was able to get the angles that other people couldn’t get – those who ran away, where they were hiding, those affected, the suspects and all of that. I did a story that almost covered the entire magazine. We had a sister publication, but I would not mention names here. They sent one of their assistant editors to Owerri to do the story. When he came back, he wrote just half a page, after collecting so much money (from the office for the trip). When they saw what I wrote, when they were having their editorial meeting, they told him, “Look at what an IT boy in Fame wrote.” The guy met one of my superiors and they harassed me, asking if I was sure I wrote the stories and so on… Where did I copy the story from? At that point, I started crying. I was only an IT boy! Because of the harassment, I didn’t come to the office for two weeks. Then, one of my bosses, Mr. Kunle Bakare, after two weeks that he didn’t see me became worried. I can’t remember how we eventually saw each other. He took me to his office and asked why he had not been seeing me. I started crying again and he calmed me down. I told him what happened. You know what he told me?! He said those harassing me were all jittery. He said I should not be bothered that he was in charge and none of them could do anything to me. Imagine if he had teamed up with them, may be I would have quit journalism. He said they could see where I was going and that my future was bright in journalism. He said I should not mind them. An assistant editor wrote just half a page and I wrote stories covering about 20 pages of a magazine. They couldn’t believe it. They were jittery.
That was one of the best editions that we did then and sold 99.9 per cent. We didn’t have unsold. Infact people came to the office to look for unsold copies.
It was just like the story I did when Kanu Nwankwo got married. It was not long after one of my closest friends resigned from Encomium and I became the Editor. Ovation got an exclusive right to cover Kanu Nwankwo’s wedding. I’m saying this with every sense of humility. Ovation had between six and ten people to cover the wedding, but I came alone with a photographer. So, when I arrived the venue of the wedding and I saw that the odds were against us, I went into my hotel room, called the photographer and told him what we were going to do; I told him the kind of photographs he should get for me. Later, wherever I went at the event, they would say “No, you can’t do it, Ovation has exclusive right over it.” Again, I went back to my room, came up with different angles and how to do the stories. I knew that being a celebrity reporter, you can’t do a complete wedding story without talking to the couple. But they were policing Kanu and his wife and no one could talk to them. I always advise people to build friends before you need them. Fortunately for me, the owner of the hotel where Kanu was lodged, his name is Evangelist Mike Ikoku; he’s the owner of All Seasons Hotel in Owerri. I must give him that credit. I told him my dilemma and he said “Don’t worry, you will talk to Kanu tonight.” So, when all those security people had left him, around 2.00 a.m., he took me to the presidential suit where Kanu was lodged. Kanu was chatting with his friends, and Ikoku told him, “This guy is my guy, you have to give him an interview”.
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The people who had exclusive right didn’t even know that I had done the interview. I interviewed Kanu, interviewed his wife, interviewed his best man, interviewed his younger brother and every one that needed to be interviewed. It was just like the Otokoto story. When we came back and published, Kanu’s story covered almost every part of the magazine. It sold over 99 per cent.
Another one in that light was when Ezeogo died. Ezeogo and I are from the same local government. My father was still alive then. You would recall the Okija shrine that people were talking about. I told my father and my father took me there. He met the chief priest and everybody. So, I was able to do a story about how he died, when he was buried and all sorts. To me, those are my memorable stories. I thank God that when the magazines were published then, they did very very well in the market.
You became the editor of Reel Star at the “tender” age of 26 and Encomium at the age of 33. How did it feel then being an editor?
I think it was one of the best moments of my life. Although if times were to change, I would do some things differently, but I have no regret. I gave it my best. If the owners of the publications could allow me to edit for eight years until I left on my own volition… My own understanding is that I must have been doing something very very nice. During my time we used to have one or two publications, we added another one during my time as the editor. Another thing that I keep saying, even though some may not like it (and that is understandable), is that it was during my time that Encomium bought the property where it is still sited. I know how much it cost to get the property then. I didn’t do it alone; it was a collective effort. I am happy that it was when I was the editor. Some other people had served as the editor and may be other things happened when they were there, but I can beat my chest to say that it was during my time as the editor of the newspaper that some of those things happened. So many good things happened in my life career-wise and generally. I had a good time generally.
How would you compare reporting entertainment and writing human interest stories in say about 20 years ago to what obtains today, especially in view of technological advancement?
The truth is that people no longer write these days, especially in that genre of journalism. Then, we didn’t have internet, you would not write any story without providing the background; the efforts, the work that went into the stories that we wrote then were unimaginable. Today, people just scavenge on social media to get stories. Then, as one edition was going to the press, you were already working on another one. The truth is that nothing is happening in that area anymore.
And what then would you say should be done to salvage the situation or you think it is a hopeless one and should be forgotten about?
No, it cannot be forgotten. We just need to get more people interested in that genre of journalism. I must say that the zeal, the interest, the work and the sacrifices that we made then, the people who are coming after us don’t have them. They are just looking for the easy way out – run through the social media, aggregate stories and push them out there. And some times, half of what they push out are not correct. So, it is very very sad.
Many have expressed worry about the soft sell genre over the years, complaining about the style of reportage and so on. What would you say about this?
I don’t want some people to feel bad if I mention names… In Igbo, they say when you don’t like something, you give it a bad name. I’m not saying that sometimes mistakes are not made or stories are not exaggerated. I’ll give you an example. An aunt of mine, she is somebody I hold in high esteem and who has been there for me… Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu; when it was first reported that Ojukwu was dating her. Ojukwu went to court! But eventually they got married and it was a fantastic marriage. I’m just using her as a case study. If I mention some names now, some people may want to take offence and say I am calling them out or something. In that celebrity journalism genre, the amount of work that we did and still do, you can’t believe it. When you take people unaware and you expose what they are hiding from the public, they will first look for names to call you. When it was reported that Okoya was dating Sade, the man was also “paraing” (fuming) but they are married today and the marriage is looking good. Sade is my friend and I like her industry, the way she has been taking care of the man and everything. When it was reported that RMD was dating MEE (May Ellen Ezekiel), it generated so much noise. I have so many instances that I can give. As the editor, some will come to me and say, what you are saying is the truth, but please…
You’ve been on your own now for 14 years as publisher of Yes International Magazine. At what point did you decide to move away from being an employee to setting up your own magazine. What informed your decision?
There are some things I will say, even though some may not like them. Number one is that even as a governor, after eight years, you cannot continue to be in office; you have to look for something else to do. That is one of the things I put into consideration. Number two is that any other promotion after being an Editor, would make me irrelevant. That’s being very very frank. I didn’t want to be promoted to irrelevance; I needed to take my destiny in my own hand; I needed to do some things on my own. After eight years (as editor), I thought I needed to take up other challenges; I needed to give other people the opportunity to prove themselves. I didn’t want to be a sit-tight editor. I knew there was no other thing for me to do there. I knew that the time had come for me to take that leap and be on my own.
If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have resigned much earlier. It is not that it is easy, but there is nothing as good as being in control of your destiny
Couldn’t that have been as a result of the dwindling fortune of the soft sell in particular and the print in general at the time?
It wasn’t. If it was because of that, I wouldn’t have started a soft-sell publication. At the time I left, it was still doing well; all we needed to have done was to have gravitated online which we didn’t do on time. Before we (Yes International Magazine) went fully online, we did the hard copy for some years. It was designed originally as a hard copy. It was along the line that we incorporated the online and solidified it.
Why really did you stop the hard copy?
It is no longer profitable. Back then, we would do the hard copy, some online will buy the magazine; you wake up in the morning and everybody would have all the stories that would have taken you one month, two months to write. And all that they will do as credit is to just put “Yes International”; some people won’t even give you credit. So, we now said nobody cooks rice and put the pot outside for the birds to feed on. We found out that we are just working for some people to enjoy. We said, okay, let us also join the online journalism. More so, online is the future of journalism.
How would you compare being a publisher or one who is self-employed to being an employee, whether as a reporter or editor?
I will tell you the truth. If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have resigned much earlier. It is not that it is easy, but there is nothing as good as being in control of your destiny – If I work harder, I will enjoy more; if I don’t work hard, I won’t have anything to fall back on. That is just the simple truth.
What advice do you have for those who are coming into journalism on how to make a mark and succeed in the profession?
Number one thing is to put your trust in God. Believe in yourself. Work hard. Make contacts because the more people you know, the more access you’ll enjoy. In journalism, what you need is access. If you want to do a story, you should know the right people to call and the story will be done. Do your work very well. Then go beyond the call of duty. Don’t do whatever other people are doing, because if you do, you will get the result that every other person gets. But if you are distinct, if you are unique, people will always say there is something different about you.
*Concluding part to be published on Friday.
