Chidi Amuta
Dr Amuta (as we call him) is one hell of a dude: Handsome, cultured, dapper dresser, polished and primed with Victorian finery, a man endowed with high octane intelligence, a first-class graduate, great bard, always cute, speaks with a trained diction that emits nothing but brilliance.
On Saturday, September 12, we gathered in Lagos to celebrate a public intellectual in the purest sense of that expression: Dr Chidi Amuta! Many have read him, still read him, but never met him. For those who have never met him and those who know him from afar, Dr Amuta (as we call him) is one hell of a dude: Handsome, cultured, dapper dresser, polished and primed with Victorian finery, a man endowed with high octane intelligence, a first-class graduate, great bard, always cute, speaks with a trained diction that emits nothing but brilliance.
Come, let me introduce you to a self-confident man, enguarded with grace, guided by divinity, fated to success and gifted with a rare cognitive acuity that stands him out in every pantheon. Let me introduce you to a man who loves the beautiful things of life; a man I have never seen or heard being linked to anything less than beautiful. His writings are beautiful. His taste is beautiful and he loves people with beautiful heart. A man of immaculate Victorian taste and class; a man who has been writing for over 50 years, a man of letters, a gifted literary icon for whom fine writing is a culture, not an accident.
Let’s meet him. The Umuguru (Abia state) boy who grew up as an only child, having lost his only brother early in life. A boy who loathed school but became a man who stomped and stamped his imprints, indelible, in different universities. A wonk. Workaholic. And he’s woke too. You don’t walk out of the old University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) with a First-Class degree if you’re a dimwit or even an average student. Amuta blazed a trail, minting along his path numerous disciples and mentees. A true don of the literary fraternity.
Yes, we gathered to celebrate the septuagenarian as he publicly presented his memoir, a 492-page book written in vintage Amuta prose: pacey, racy, even poetic. Titled: HOMAGE – Return to Familiar Places, the book sweeps you – emotion, intellect and all – into the past, the very beginning of the journey of one of Africa’s most innovative literary exemplars of intentional creativity; and a connoisseur of classics. The book is a chef-d’œuvre, a masterpiece steeped in history, ancestral and contemporary homily, love, laughter, business and family bonding. In chronicling his life’s odyssey, Amuta teaches us resilience, tolerance, arming the reader with the will to overawe adversities, betrayals, and the diverse vicissitudes of life. Above all, it teaches us to love, to cherish our families and to nurture friendships.
It was no brainer that those who gathered to unveil his memoir with him were mostly family members, associates and real friends. Two of his former students at the University of Port Harcourt who took a path he never taught them – joining politics – and making a success of it: Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state and Alex Otti, current governor of Abia state, were in attendance. So was his most enduring friend who showed him how to turn fine writing to cash, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, himself a media colossus. Nigeria’s inimitable power mandarin, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retired) sent a representative and a message full of plaudits for Amuta. By the way, IBB and Amuta have been friends since IBB’s days at Dodan Barracks operating as military President. A friendship that started with an invitation from IBB to Amuta that struck both fear and uncertainty in the Umuguru village boy who had then become a powerful columnist first in the Guardian and later at Daily Times. But the invitation and subsequent meeting turned out an opportunity for Presidential compliment. IBB pointedly told Amuta: ‘I have been reading you.’ And the man who thought he had written himself into trouble suddenly realised he has written himself into prominence, a prominence profound enough for an IBB to become a fan. That is the power of impact journalism and a lesson to the younger generation of journalists and writers. You are being read and watched, and the opinion you hold might be what any government needs to solve a puzzle.
I was a young school cert holder and proof-reader when Ogunbiyi and Amuta took over the reins of leadership at the Daily Times after they had left the Guardian. Shortly after their arrival, fate took me out of Daily Times. I would return to the same Daily Times years later after completing my self-sponsored degree programme at the University of Lagos and national service in Bayelsa state.
I did not return to Daily Times as a proof-reader. I returned as Science Writer, this time equipped with the right skills set. And in a matter of months, destiny thrust into my hand the opportunity to start an Infotech page in the Daily Times which metamorphosed into a zesty, sought-after pull-out.
And Amuta came calling. One afternoon I got a message that Dr Amuta would like to see me at 7, Warehouse Road, Apapa. That was the address of the soon-to-be The Post Express. I honoured the invitation and met face to face with a man I had fallen in love with his writing style and form. ‘I want you here’, he intoned, his face flushing with a lush smile. I guess he read the confusion on my face and he quickly added: ‘the fact that I’m here, should tell you this project will work.’ No formal interview, written or oral. Just a conversation and I joined the other recruits to start The Post Express experiment.
The Post Express was a blistering editorial success, offering an 8-page pull-out of The New York Times, and becoming the first Nigerian newspaper to go on the web (www.postexpresswired.com), thus setting the pace for online journalism in Nigeria as we have it today; but it was profoundly a marketing failure. A newspaper printed at 7, Warehouse House, was not circulating in Apapa, and was even absent from the newspapers’ depot at the Warehouse Road junction where other newspapers were in regular supply for allocation to vendors. It was to the credit of Stanley Macebuh and Amuta leadership that The Post Express was also able to structure a symbiotic partnership with New York Times. One of the mutual benefits was a joint supplement on Nigeria by the two newspapers. It was at The Post Express that I worked very closely with Amuta, the enigma that I had savoured his rich literary broth over the years.
Dr Amuta believed in me and trusted me with higher responsibilities. He moved me from the narrow and specialised Science desk to a more omnibus Group News Editor position, a move that altered the algorithm of my journalism career and paved the way for my rise to Editor of the newspaper in record time after graduation from the university. I owe my success in journalism to Dr Amuta – from proof-reader to science writer/Infotech editor, Group News Editor to Editor (of both The Post Express and Daily Times at different times), member Editorial Board, and now Publisher and author. Amuta’s not only a great bard; he’s also a visionary and anticipatory leader. He saw online journalism afar off and never ceased to remind me that digital platform is the future of journalism. That future is here, and growing.
