David Attah: Legends Don’t Die! 

Chief David Ogaba Attah, a quintessential family man, seasoned journalist, politician of conviction, elder statesman and philosopher-king may have passed on. But for me, he remains a legend and legends don’t die. They simply transmogrify, transfigure to the other divide, where a philosopher calls the great beyond to continue with their service to humanity. This was exactly what Chief Attah believed. He believed in life after death and used every opportunity he had with us here to philosophize on life after death. He enjoined servant leaders that he was to prepare themselves to serve in the hereafter, and I believe, this is exactly what he is currently doing in the great beyond!

Chief Attah rose from a humble background to national limelight by dint of hard work and creativity. After his primary and secondary education, he sought to seek knowledge like a ‘‘sinking star’’ but had no money to gain university education. He quickly put on his thinking cap and sold his Radiogram to raise money to foot his education at the Ahmedu Bello University, Zaria. To sustain his education to completion, he needed a job and his flair for creative writing made journalism handy at the time. Daily Times engaged him and he started reporting for the powerful Lagos medium while still in the University and held several challenging editorial and non-editorial position in Daily Times before the then Benue-Plateau State Government poached him to superintend the Jos-based Nigeria Standard Newspaper as General Manager. As one of the earliest professional journalists in Northern Nigeria, he witnessed the first military coup in Kaduna on 15th January, 1966 and interviewed Major Kaduna Nzeogwu on the bloody day.

 After graduation, Chief Attah left Daily Times and was appointed General Manager of Benue-Plateau Publishing Company (BPPC), publishers of Nigeria Standard where he distinguished himself as an archetypal public servant of the 21st Century.

As General Manager, he had a mission to turn around the newspaper and as events later showed, he exceeded his target. First he proved to the government of the day that journalists were indeed serious people and can be trusted with onerous responsibility as a result of his unalloyed commitment to service as against personal comfort! The first thing he did was to assemble a crack team of journalists to help him turn the Nigeria Standard into one of the best newspapers in Nigeria and the best in Northern Nigeria which he did. To achieve this, the head hunter that Attah was, had to recruit the services of some good hands that have today turned out to be amongst the best brains in the media industry. Top amongst them were Dan Agbese, George Ohemu, Bagudu Hirse, James Ikuve, Innocent Oparadike and a host of other professionals who at various times became editors, publishers and media managers. He also embarked on training and retraining of staff across the cadre which helped to develop the capacity of personnel. His staff capacity building philosophy became handy when he started the expansion of the corporation with the establishment of Sunday Standard; the first Sunday newspaper in Northern Nigeria, not even New Nigeria had a Sunday title at the time. Thereafter, Chief Attah diversified the newspaper to also take care of the comic industry by establishing Pappy Joe, a witty newspaper and perhaps the first of its kind in Nigeria. He also knew early in life that football is a veritable instrument in rebranding a newspaper and established Pen Powers Football Club, which later became JIB Rocks Football Club and later Plateau Untied Football Club of Jos. The capping stone of Chief Attah’s achievements in the Nigeria Standard was a Ten-Story edifice, the tallest building at the time in Jos, which he built for the organization.  As a reporter with the Sun, I was privileged to interview him on his enviable life and time, and was stunned that rather than take credit for his achievements as typical Nigerians would, Chief Attah would simply attribute the feats to team work!

 Yet his achievements in Jos made him a cynosure of all eyes; anywhere he went he was stealing the show. And since a golden fish, they say has no hiding place, the leadership of the defunct Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) wooed him to run for the House of Representatives, an election  which he won convincingly in 1979 and represented old Okpokwu. He was well respected by the party apparatchik and its leader, the legendary Zik of Africa whom he later had the privilege of chairing his burial committee set up by the Gen Sani Abacha led Federal Government. Chief Attah was very visible in the green chamber so much so that he nearly became the Speaker but for the ethnic contradictions of the Nigeria state! In the House, he sponsored many bills, moved motions and brought critical issues to the front burner of national discourse. Unfortunately, after his very successful first term, he couldn’t return to the National Assembly in 1984. No thanks to the rigging machine of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the General Muhammed Buhari coup which sacked the second republic!

In 1984, the then Benue State Government appointed Chief Attah as General Manager of  Nigeria Voice and usual, he hit the ground running. He inherited a galaxy of young writers like Nats Onoja Agbo, Hingah Biem, Tor Uja, Simon Amase, Joe Nwachukwu, Dan Edogbo Okolo, Bala Dan Abu and a host of others who later rose to the pinnacle of the journalism profession. With a highly motivated staff, he improved the editorial contents of the newspaper. He redesigned the masthead of Nigeria Voice. He introduced Sunday Voice and appointed Hingah Biem as its first Editor. Like Nigeria Standard, the Nigeria Voice newspaper’s editorials were aired on national radio. His accomplishments at the newspaper house endeared him to the then military governor who promptly elevated him to the position of Commissioner for Information. As a parastatal  under his watch, he continued to beef up the Editorial department of Nigeria Voice with the appointment of editors from within and recruitment of experienced staff like Ochapa Ogenyi, Sebastian Agbinda and Chris Abah etc.

After Commissionership, he joined others to establish Focus, the first monthly newsmagazine in Central Nigeria. He was in that venture with Nats Onoja Agbo who was the first Editor, Justice A.P. Anyebe, Professor Erim Ode Erim, Okpe Ojanga and Dr. Gabriel Ankeli. The magazine also had quality contributors like Ogoh Alubo, Sonni Gwanle Tyoden, Erim Ode Erim, Dan Mou and Thomas Amper.

   Chief Attah was in the newspaper venture until 1989 when he returned to politics and pitched tent with the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).

He liked life and lived it to the fullest. As a man of tradition and culture, he belonged to an age grade; he was at home with his people’s tradition and culture, always fond gracing Ujo new yam festival as well as playing the local draft in his country home in Igumale, Ado Local Government Area of Benue State.  On one faithful day, he was playing the local draft when armed soldiers stormed the sleepy town looking for him. Igumale instantly wore a mournful look. The locals took to their heels when they sighted the soldiers, fearing that General Sani Abacha who had just seized power as Head of State had ordered his arrest. How wrong were they! Unknown to them, Gen Abacha who first met Chief Attah at NIPS, Kuru, Jos some years earlier wanted Chief Attah to be his Chief Press Secretary.

The soldiers got him and they travelled on road to Lagos that same day and 24 hours after, Chief Attah was announced as Chief Press Secretary to General Abacha and Igumale came back to life with jubilation! After the demise of General Abacha, he also served as Chief Press Secretary to General Abdulsalaam Abubakar before he again returned to partisan politics and became a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

But in spite of his loyalty to PDP, a party he heavily invested in, the potentates at the time humiliated him and stopped him from being Benue State Chairman of the party after he was unanimously endorsed as Chairman by Benue South (senatorial district) caucus where the position was zoned to. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the then National Chairman of the party, Chief Audu Ogbeh but was thwarted by the then Governor, George Akume! At a period when many Nigeria politicians had become nomadic politicians, changing political parties at will, in search of ‘‘food’’, coupled with his bad treatment by the party, Chief Attah as a politician of conviction remained faithful to the PDP until his death.

–AGBO is Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor of Bayelsa State and wrote in via (francisagbo38@gmail.com)