Chief Emeka Anyaoku: Duke, Where is Your Page?

For a bit now, we have been struggling with the column. The harsh economic situation that is affecting everything in Nigeria is also biting the newspaper industry. The cost of newsprint, the dearth of adverts and the rising cost of distribution, among others, have been affecting the print media.

So, some weeks, I will get one page and other weeks I will get two pages. I have been quite lucky as some pages go missing as it is a constant struggle to stay afloat. Anybody publishing a newspaper in Nigeria today is a “kura”. A kura na person wey get chest like lion. Not “chosen” lion o but better lion.

Anyway, that was how some weeks ago, I got only one page and people started calling me — Duke where is the second page o, and I would tell them to check online but they will insist they want the hard copy. One baba once called from Iyana Ipaja, “Duke where is my second page? I am standing at the bus stop with the vendor, where is the second page?  I called  Editor Davidson, and that one would dodge and send a text that he was in the other room. I would wonder why he would be in the other room indulging when there was national calamity at the vendors.

Well, that was how this Sunday — which is my day of rest as I try not to do anything — my phone rang in anger.

I looked at it and it was Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, one of the most distinguished Nigerians ever, calling me.

I jumped out of bed. “Good afternoon sir, I greeted.

“Duke, where’s your page, I cannot find it,” he said in pure Queen’s English and I screamed “Editorrrrrrrr” in my head. I said “Sir, I have not seen the paper, let me get back to you.” and he responded, “OK, please let me know what is going on because I can’t find your page in my paper.”

I immediately called the Editor and thankfully, his wife must have kicked him out of the other room as he picked. “Editor, Chief Anyaoku just called me now to say he dey find my page.”

Editor laughed and said, “Every page came out today.” I then rushed to my paper and lo and behold, the two pages in its glory. We both called Chief back and gave him the pagination and he said “Ok, Duke do have a wonderful afternoon.”

The beautiful art of publishing is dying not only because of the threats from the internet and social media but also because of the harsh operating environment. Print media still has its huge followership as the fine art of reading well-written and well-researched materials in beautiful and elegant hard copy is still very rife, hence the need for the government to immediately declare a state of emergency in the space with the hope of easing the inclement publishing weather, not only for the job losses but for the qualitative mobilisation of the people as against the rubbish being spewed by social media. Thank you.