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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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[भारत-चिँतन:8661] JUSTICE MB SHAH COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY

Unquote:

In comparison with the mining scam in the dist of Kendujhar (Orissa), the Kingdoms of Bellary and Goa are just peanuts.

Sankara Narayanan

Quote:

From: "Kiran Sankar Sahu" <kssahu@rediffmail.com>
Sent: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:43:20
To: "justicembshah.icim@gmail.com" <justicembshah.icim@gmail.com>
Cc: "onas09 Nagarik " <onas09@gmail.com>, "onas " <onas@gmail.com>
Subject: JUSTICE MB SHAH COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY

Tele: 9437054239 29 Nov 11

Submission before

Shri Justice MB Shah Commission of Enquiry

Bunglow No 13. Opp Anticorruption Bureau, Dupanala Sahi, Ahmedabad38004

Whereas,

Kendujhar Citizens' Forum, an apolitical body of enlightened well wishers of Kendujhar, its land and people, is very seriously concerned about the way the mining industry has grown exponentially during last decade, showing little or no concern for Environment (both physical and social), sustainability, DIDR (Dev induced Displacement and Rehabilitation), and blatant violation of almost all laws pertaining to mining industry, leading to many a scam,

Whereas,

All agencies of Government, both Central and State, responsible to control and direct the activities of mining and all other related activities, have, by their acts of commission and omission, not only brought about loss of public revenue, and wanton misuse of important strategic natural resources, but also brought profound distress to Kendujhar, its soil, water, air and biosphere, including forests, animals and human beings,

And finally whereas,

All efforts made by this forum to contain, limit, mend, the ways of all these agencies, namely state and district administration, mining, forest, environment, pollution, water resources, transport and such other departments, all for the cause of Kendujhar, its people, and their life and living here, have never been given a proper hearing or attention as the genuine voice of a distress community, at the receiving end of many a false/deceptive promises

We seek an opportunity to be heard by the Honourable Commission of Inquiry, during their their field visit to our district, at any time and venue, suitable.

Recently, on news reports that Govt of Odisha have finally realized theLargescale environmental degradation of the entire mining area attributable to mindless mining with little or no concern for 'Sustainability' of a strategic natural resource, where 'Short sighted' commercial interest has taken the upper hand.

Our Forum, re-examined the mining activities for one last time last month, in the entire left bank of Baitarani River from Basant pur to Dubna and then along Polasponga-Joda road, a distance of about 50 km up to Barbil. We totally agree with the assessment of the Govt of Odisha as reported in the press and have the following opinions to offer for the consideration of this high level commission of Inquiry:-

a. The entire area should be declared as an area of 'Total Environmental disaster' till the mending of the current situation is in place.

b. 'Indian Bureau of Mines' entrusted with the responsibility of EMP as per MCDR-88 have to review their approach to scientifically balance the production and environmental load, before exercise of their power of annual clearance/ permission etc.

c. IBM and DGMS have to re-examine the over burden dumps which are the main source of the environmental and safety hazard. Basic needs of limits of height, slope, and vegetation cover, trenches, garland canal and such other needs have to necessarily in place before authorizing the limits of production, and not vice versa. The basic desire of the miner to declare the low grade mineral as overburden shows a criminal intent, leading to not only large scale wastage of a natural resource, but also create the problem of massive dumps of dangerous proportion.

d. All normal overburden dumps are 'Forestable land' because they are basically from the top soil, mainly endowed with humus content, above the ore layers.. As all forest experts know, the trees hold a lot of water by capillary action, reduce the surface temperature by providing shades against evaporation loss of sub-soil water, and grip the soil much better against erosion by rain water. Planting of grass or shrubs of local variety provide only mild supplements to the protection of soil cover. The unchanged 'Forest Kisam' in Mining lease area, and restoration of its 'Eco-system' with all its 'Bio-diversity' (wild life, birds, to white ants included) is a very specialist job to be attended to by knowledgeable forest experts/officials. This is one responsibility of the Mines Manager which is overtly neglected on commercial compulsion.

e. Mining and deforestation are at the root of the 'Descent of ground water level' and dried up stream in the entire Baitarani basin, except the protected 'Simlipal biosphere' on its left bank. There is a need to induct science through hydrologists, soil scientists, civil engineers and others to revive and restore the entire upper Baitarani basin back to a rich one, thriving on agricultural and allied activities. May be investment in thousands of check dams, the old traditional wisdom of our farmers, will become an investment in 'Sustainability' when our 'Non-renewable' sources slowly come to an end.

f. The 'Red' coloured rain water flowing out of the ill-designed mining activities along the entire left side catchment area of Baitarani River is carried by a large number of tributaries and streams. The deep red colour of the river water is due to the presence of high level of Iron ore fines ( measured as high as 1kg/KL by a study commissioned by Kanupur Dam Project) which have reached the fertile planes of lower Baitarani basin this year through extensive flood. This deposit may have possible adverse effect on the soil fertility of the flood plains. This calls for a deeper scientific study.

g. The team also observed that around the Raiway sidings for Iron ore, including the unauthorized one at Kendujhargarh station, thousands of acres of quality cultivable lands has been used for temporary storage yard of Iron ore, mainly ore fines. The left over ores, left permanently in the fields, have rendered the otherwise fertile land perpetually unproductive. The poor and ignorant farmers might have surrendered to the pressure from the transporters for a few coins more, but the damage is no doubt environmentally 'Irreversible' for the livelihood of the farmers.

h. 'Forest' is a subject in the concurrent list, and the actual permissions are granted by Central Govt for 'Mining in the Forest area'. But the extensive terms and conditions stipulated in those "Environmental Clearances" appear to be only exercise in "legal Defense', than any shade of sincerity in implementation. Large number of addressees in the clearance letters have little or no role to play in enforcing those terms and conditions. When the actual ML holders also abdicate their responsibility, and effectively out source all their activities to contractors through all kinds shady agreements, the silent forests and the benign environment become the victims. Such lack of concern is visible throughout the 250 sq km of mining lease area in this region.

Our Forum strongly feels that scientists and specialists will be in a far better position to appreciate the extent of damage not only inside the lease area but in the entire so called "Spill Out" effect on the whole of the district and stretched beyond to the flood plains of Coastal Odisha. Our members would like to re-iterate the urgent need for a "Regional Environmental Plan" by an Institute of national repute. The cost of restoration of the Environment has to be borne from out of the surplus of the mining activity.

As the affected resident citizens of this district, we submit this to the 'High powered Commission of Inquiry', and seek an opportunity to be heard, for the cause of our environment as well as sustainability of the nations' strategic resources.

Yours Truly,

(Kiran Sankar Sahu)

Wing Commander (Retd)

President, for and on behalf of All Members of Citizens' Forum

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Kentucky church votes to ban interracial couples

* Associated Press
* guardian.co.uk<http://www.guardian.co.uk/>, Wednesday 30 November 2011 22.00 EST

Kentucky church votes to ban interracial couples

The Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church voted on the resolution, which says the church 'does not condone interracial marriage

A tiny church in rural Kentucky<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/kentucky> has voted to ban interracial couples from joining its congregation, pitting members against each other in an argument over race.

Members at the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Kentucky voted on Sunday on the resolution, which says the church "does not condone interracial marriage."

The church member who crafted the resolution, Melvin Thompson, said he is not racist and called the matter an "internal affair."

"I am not racist. I will tell you that. I am not prejudiced against any race of people, have never in my lifetime spoke evil about a race," said Thompson, the church's former pastor who stepped down earlier this year.

"That's what this is being portrayed as, but it is not."

Church secretary Dean Harville disagreed - he says the resolution came after his daughter visited the church this summer with her boyfriend from Africa.

Stella Harville and Ticha Chikuni, now her fiance, visited the church in June and Chikuni sang a song for the congregation. The two had visited the church before.

Dean Harville, the church's secretary, said he was counting the church offering after a service in early August when he was approached by Thompson, who told him Harville's daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church.

"If he's not racist, what is this?" Harville said of Thompson.

The vote by members last Sunday was 9-6, Harville said. It was taken after the service, which about 35 to 40 people attended. Harville said many people left or declined to vote.

The resolution says anyone is welcome to attend services, but interracial couples could not become members or be "used in worship services or other church functions."

Stella Harville, a 24-year-old graduate student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, called the vote "hurtful."

"I think part of me is still in shock and trying to process what's been going on the past few days," she said. "I really hope they overturn this."

The church's pastor, Stacy Stepp, said on Wednesday that he was against the resolution. Stepp said the denomination's regional conference will begin working on resolving the issue this weekend.

The National Association of Free Will Baptists in Tennessee has no official position on interracial marriage for its 2,400 churches worldwide, executive secretary Keith Burden said. The denomination believes the Bible is inerrant and local churches have autonomy over decision-making.

"It's been a non-issue with us," Burden said, adding that many interracial couples attend Free Will Baptist churches. He said the Pike County church acted on its own. Burden said the association can move to strip the local church of its affiliation with the national denomination if it's not resolved.

"Hopefully it is corrected quickly," Burden said.

* Printable version<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/01/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couples/print>

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

…

Laolu,

Did you say I'm not raising any new issues? Perhaps, I'm not; but my object was never to raise any new issues. My purpose is to discuss the issue at hand in all its possible ramifications. Specifically, as regards my last post (to which this response of yours relates), I posted it as a response to your claim that the "revelations" in Kusa's piece "add value somewhere, somehow", because it's information now disseminated that otherwise would have remained concealed. You have returned to pursue the same theme in your last post; so, pardon me, because I've still got reasons to respond to you. It would be important you understand this before you bow out of this exchange, as you wish.

Please, note that mere accusation against someone already dead cannot on its own, without corroboration, constitute information for public benefit. Also, delivered at the time of death, it is rather repulsive, not beneficial to the public. I mean, what information did Kusa give in his piece that is so important, that he couldn't wait, but must have it delivered rudely and intrudingly into the family and national mourning of a widely-acclaimed and genuinely great Nigerian (despite his flaws)? Even if other citizens were to come out and say indeed the dead man was all Kusa says he was, it still would amount to nothing, because the dead man has not been given the opportunity to defend himself against Kusa's charge or any possible charge by any other person. For thirteen years, Kusa had the unfettered opportunity to speak, he didn't. Now, upon his death, he suddenly commandeers his column in the Nation, put aside what he was working and manically delved into the business of publicly disgracing a dead man! How useful is that 'information' coming from one person, the sole accuser of the dead man? You keep saying if this or if that, but there are really no ifs, because the point-blank truth is that days after writing this, no one has come out to support Kusa or corroborate his story, not even Lade Bonuola or Olatunji Dare, persons he painted rosily in his account! Why?

I find your agreement with Ogbuagu Anikwe on the fact that Kusa had nothing good to say about Ibru contradictory. I mean, wasn't that the whole point of the criticism we have against him and against which you are defending him on the basis of his right to free speech, to express a grudge as information and to generally spew out what you've termed "pent-up repulsion", even if it means doing so as the man's body is yet to be put in the ground? Why are you now raising the question of timing when that is exactly the question Farooq and I had raised and which you found irrelevant where Kusa's free speech was supposedly at stake?

However, of all the things you've said so far, the worst for me is this whole story of Kusa's fear of harm as a possible excuse for not speaking out earlier. That is pathetic, Laolu! I mean, isn't that a further attack on Ibru's character? This man who dedicated his life to philanthropy and ecumenism was going to harm Femi Kusa? Okay, Laolu, you have to come clean here. I know Femi Kusa is a mentor of yours as one of those who showed you the ropes early as a reporter and this you have publicly acknowledged before now. So, tell us, did he tell you he was scared of harm from Ibru? Did he tell you that was why he couldn't speak before his death? You may not know Ibru closely enough, even as publisher; but does the man strike you in anyway as someone likely to strike fear into Kusa? Is there anything in Kusa's piece that faintly indicates that he was speaking now only because he feared harm from the man when alive? Isn't it obvious from the writing that everything he said about Ibru, he said them boldly without hint of fear? If he was afraid of harm, is that fear gone now simply because Alex Ibru is dead when we know that the influence and connections of the large Ibru clan remain? Please, Laolu, do not raise such a possibility. There is no basis whatsoever for it. When you did earlier, I ignored it, because I thought it was a slip on your side. I still see no basis for it now, because Femi Kusa did not raise it as an excuse in his piece and has not raised it after.

Finally, don't worry about what I bet or don't bet on. It's a bet, isn't it? Let's see the fool and heartless fellow that will come out and say they support Kusa for speaking now about Ibru the way he did. Let's see. Yes, when you see such a fellow (amongst the actors of the time), call my attention to it. For now, I stand by what I've stated, because if Kusa has decent friends, that is exactly what they will be telling him. Or is he not mortal? Is he not fallible?

…

From: laolu akande <akandeoj@yahoo.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 1 December 2011, 0:00
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

Thanks a lot.

But you are not really raising any new issues, dear Ken.

To say however that the information is "sick information," is again, to be carried away.

The information may have come out distatefully, but you know being a reporter yourself that the way the information comes out (especially in the courts of public opinion) is not as critical as the value of the information itself. Not so much about the messenger, but the message.

That is why we need corroboration if the information is to be a solid part of history. If it turns out as the truth, no amount of name-calling the information, can detract from it. But if is is merely the effusions of a repulsed former associate, that also would be eventually proven.

Look, dear good people, The Guardian and its history is too significant for the truth not to come out eventually, one way or the other.

However I agree with Ogbuagu Anikwe who raised the question : how come Kusa had nothing good to say about Ibru?

That is a very instructive one, that agrees with what I had said in my first post that Kusa had pent-up repulsion and annoyance! For whatever it is worth, Ibru has given Nigeria its foremost newspaper to day and that cannot be taken away from him.

I have raised the question of Kusa's timing and the question is still on the floor-i would personally have spoken much earlier at least at some point to the man's face, or at the very least, perhaps, wait for the body to be interred. But some views have been expressed as to the man's reluctance to speak out earlier including fear of harm.

Finally: you better don't bet on it that no one else will speak out one way or the other on this matter, or that Kusa is now being harangued behind the scenes. Ken, you really dont know that o!

At this point, permit me to sign off on this topic all together!

Regards,

Akande

From: Kennedy Emetulu <kemetulu@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

Laolu,

There is a way to release information, which is why we have good and bad PR. This one is even far much more than mere PR; it is a moral question about empathy, decency, loyalty and selflessness. On all counts, Kusa failed.

From his own account, Ibru plucked him from a dead end job at Daily Times. I have no doubt that he was not the sole candidate fit for the role of an Assistant Editor Ibru gave him upon coming to The Guardian; but it is a measure of the trust and respect Ibru had for him that he rose to be a Director in The Guardian and its Editor-in-Chief. He worked there with Ibru (and he needlessly emphasised this by saying he didn't "work for" him) for 17 years. The all-powerful Ibru never once came out in public to lambaste the man for leaving The Guardian in the acrimonious circumstances he left neither did he in the 13 years since he left before his death publicly take him to task. He did not set his attack dogs in the press after him nor antagonise him in any way.

Then Ibru dies, what do we get? Femi Kusa prancing around, dancing on his grave with "information"! Who needs this type of sick information? You think if it's true, it's only Mr Kusa that has this information? How many people amongst those involved at the time still alive do you see falling over themselves to publicly support Kusa? If anything, I can bet my bottom dollar that a lot of them would be calling him up to tell him he got it wrong! Why don't they come out to tell us that what Femi Kusa is saying is true and that they support his approach of releasing the information now?

To be honest, the information, even if it's true in all particulars is useless. I see nothing he has said that tells me why The Guardian lost its original spark nor do I buy his reasoning over the Abacha affair. Indeed, it is an exhibition of naivety or mischief to assume that Abacha was going to hide his cudgel if the "Inside Aso Rock" publication by Kingsley Osadolor didn't happen. It is total tosh to question the direction of The Guardian when he was no equity owner at any level, but a mere employee. If he so values his magic touch, why didn't he replicate this at the defunct Comet or now at the Nation where he keeps a column and where he published this attack on Ibru?

Let's not deceive ourselves. Mr Kusa is out here on a limb, which is why no one amongst the principal characters of the era is lining up to support him. He has let his bitterness get the better of him. Does he think all those he worked with at The Guardian think of him as a saint? In fact, he himself stated in his piece that there was "jubilation" at The Guardian upon Ibru's dissolution of the board! I mean, I know of people who worked and still work in The Guardian who think of him as a "tribalist"; I know of people who call him "duplicitous"; I know of people who say he's "vindictive". But I really do not care about their view, because I do not judge people by hearsay. As far as I'm concerned, if that is what they feel about him, they should tell him to his face or publish whatever uncomplimentary things they know about him while he's still alive, so he can have an opportunity of responding. It isn't an opportunity he's given Ibru or Akporugo; but it's the only fair thing. We don't need his type of useless information. As I said elsewhere, decency wears no disguise!

From: Olaolu Akande <akandeoj@yahoo.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 13:13
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

Say what we like, information is disseminated that otherwise was concealed.

And regardless of the legitimate questions about its decency and timing, it's revelations add value, somewhere, somehow.

All said: Rest in peace, Publisher!

Akande

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 29, 2011, at 5:29 PM, Kennedy Emetulu <kemetulu@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

...

Mr Adepoju,

I'm not sure exactly why you forwarded these posts by CUE and Austen Oghuma; but if I were to hazard a guess, it would be either to support your view and counter what Farooq and I have been saying or it would be just to show that others have a different view from us. Both reasons are legitimate, but none of these posts (including Laolu Akande's) has addressed or pooh-poohed the point Farooq and I have made about Femi Kusa's piece.

The point we have made is simply that Femi Kusa had all the time in the world before now to say the things he has said here against Ibru, whether or not they are true, before Ibru's death. We are not saying he has no right to voice his opinion; but there is a time for everything. He's chosen the wrong time and in the process showed himself to be small-minded, petty, inconsiderate, vindictive and selfish. If he'd waited a year from now to say it or write a book about his Guardian experience expressing these same thoughts, it would have been better. Not that Ibru would be waking up at that time to defend himself or give a response; but at least it would have showed consideration for his loved ones mourning him now. Femi Kusa making himself an issue at the time of Ibru's death, because of his disagreement with the deceased, does not make him look great. It's killed the validity of whatever point he has to make and reduced him in the eyes of decent and reasonable people. He can still redeem himself by apologising to the Ibru family. He does not have to retract what he had said, but he should admit that it is bad judgment on his part to choose this occasion to publish it, thus giving the unintended impression that he wants to rudely intrude in their mourning.

...

From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 14:20
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [edo-nationality] Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <edosomwanlaw@gmail.com>
Date: 29 November 2011 13:46
Subject: [edo-nationality] Re:

People,
All great people have their minuses. The reason for the greatness could only be that their pluses far outweighed these minuses. Alexander, Napoleon, Henry VIII, Montgomery, Mao; you name them, they had them. Its not different with Alex Ibru. He was a visionary shrewd enough to have created an icon for Nigeria's print journalism by harnessing the best available materials - technical and otherwise including Femi Kusa and other sharp minds. Truly Kusa beside Macebuh and the galaxy of journalism's stars that he recruited for the Guardian project probably wasn't as celebrated and acclaimed as he became under the auspices of The Guardian. Ibru had the right to effect his vision in any way he saw fit and I think he did a great job of it as indeed his vision became the flagship of Nigeria's print media.
Kusa also had a right to be disgruntled about the way Ibru ran his newspapers. So? But he I suspect, would deep inside him be grateful to Ibru for affording him a higher pedestal never before seen in Nigerian journalism to have better shown his mettle and taken his reputation to heights he couldn't take it before his stint at The Guardian - Flagship.
After all said, I see no reason why Kusa should be excoriated for spilling his bile on Ibru albeit posthumously because there are always lessons to be learned from people's tales (even uncharitable ones) in businesses that are still a mystery to folks. While journalism is an old trade in Nigeria, it has never been successfully practised as a business before The Guardian! Rupert Murdoch's The News Of The World that recently closed over the Phone Hacking scandal was reputed to have run for about or over a century but Nigeria is like either a graveyard for dead journals or tabloids or a poor hospital for ailing ones. For those who see Kusa's tales on Ibru as uncharitable, many might be surprised on how many hard-nosed entrepreneurs who read it may want to lift a thing or two from them on how to kick ass and make business run right!
Alex Ibru was a great man regardless. Rest in peace
CUE

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>

Sender: NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com

Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:31:34 +0000

To: <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>

ReplyTo: NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa' s, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflatte ring exposé on Late Alex Ibru

I wish Femi Kusa could develop this into a comprehensive and complete book on The Guardian Newspapers.
Austen Oghuma

On 29 November 2011 07:30, toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Austen Oghuma <aoghuma@yahoo.com>
Date: 29 November 2011 05:11
Subject: Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa's, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflattering exposé on Late Alex Ibru
To: "NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>

All,

I wish Femi Kusa could develop this into a comprehensive and complete book on The Guardian Newspapers. Part of the story that circulated was that Alex Ibru spent a lot of money in setting up the newspaper. Even after all the equipment were in place, no one had the technical production details to roll it out until he was told of Ladi Bonuola who was at the time still with the Daily Times. It took Bonuola no time to produce what is arguably the flagship of Nigeria's print media.

For those who feel it was too revealing and as such disrespectful, they should understand that Ibru's management style was not different from a typical Nigerian business enterprise. Ibru, however, gave a voice to independent journalism and every publisher that came after him tried to emulate him and possibly to replicate his success. There were backroom politics It is not different from any other business.

There may be bitterness in Kusa's tone but he recounted his personal experience. Nigeria needs these types of detailed information as part of a process to transform our society. No one can claim to be a saint, so why don't we read about the intrigues that were also part of the man's life.

Austen Oghuma

From: toyin adepoju <toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com>
To: naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com; naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com; naijaelections <naijaelections@yahoogroups.com>; nigerianworldforum <NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com>; "NigerianID@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; ngpolitics@googlegroups.com; Naija Business Naija Business <NaijaBusiness@yahoogroups.com>; Edo-nationality <edo-nationality@yahoogroups.com>; Edo Global <Edo_Global@yahoogroups.com>; abolo <tonbole@yahoo.com>; Tony Abolo <abolotony2@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 12:02 AM
Subject: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa's, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflattering exposé on Late Alex Ibru

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Toyin Falola <toyin.falola@mail.utexas.edu>
Date: 27 November 2011 22:22
Subject: Yoruba Affairs - Femi Kusa's, former Editor in Chief of The Guardian writes an unflattering exposé on Late Alex Ibru
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com, yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com

Femi Kusa departs from our tendency to sanctify the dead. Please see below for his take on how Alex Ibru ran The Guardian. It was published in The Nation of 24 November.

Alexander Uruemu IbruŠ Publisher, The Guardian

By Femi Kusa 24/11/2011 16:45:00

Font size:

I WAS some way through the conclusion of the series on eye problems when Mr George Akintobi informed me of breaking newsŠ Alex Ibru was gone!. A few minutes later, the editor of a newspaper telephoned me for comments. I was numb, and apologised that I wasn't in the mood for comments. He apologised and called off. My mind had been set on the breaking news on Dr. Contreras, the central figure in a book on how he had been healing HIV and cancer patients with coconut oil, yes coconut oil. This is the same doctor the American Medical Association hounded out of the United States to Mexico for healing cancer with laterile. I planned to quickly break this news, especially as Dr. Contreras is now the toast of American media, the same medical stone once rejected, and then wrap it up with possible healing for eye problems in homeopathic cell salts. Well, all of that will now have to come next week. What breaking news could be bigger than Alex Uruemu Ibru, I reasoned. As the numbness disappeared, I remembered the man who told me he made all the money he needed in his life at 27. I remembered the young man who told his big brother, Olorogun Michael Ibru, he wanted to buy a Rolls Royce. I remembered he told me Olorogun thought he was too young to own a Royce. How would his brothers take it, having no Rolls? Alex said he asked Olorogun if it was alright if he bought his and theirs. Olorogun thought that was impossible, and gave his blessing. Alex bought five Rolls in one day, one for each of his brothers, himself and Olorogun!. At his home in Chelsea, England, he showed me his custom-made car which was much bigger than a Rolls Royce, and I told him he would be stoned on the roads of Lagos if he drove it there. He said, even in England, policemen saluted him in it.

That was the Alex Ibru I worked with, not worked for, between 1983 and 1999. There's a huge difference between working with and working for. When you work for, you are a slave, you may be owned. By 1977, I had known no one owned anything, not even his or her life, children, wife or husband, even property. Working with, you work for yourself, working as if the company belongs to you, one day expecting the reward not from the employer, but from the application for personal ends of the inner heat you have generated working in love, and not out of the enslaving compulsion of duty.

Alexander Uruene Ibru founded The Guardian newspaper in 1983 at a time many journalists of conscience were fed up with manipulations of the The Daily Times, then the leading newspaper, by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Umaru Dikko was leading our editor, Martin Iroabuchi, by the nose. One of the directors could take your secretary on a trip abroad without any notice and you dared not raise a finger against her. Martin often demanded that headlines be submitted to complete strangers to the organisation for vetting. The News Editor, Felix Odiari, had links to Moshood Kasimawo Abiola (MKO). Bamanga Tukur had his own insiders. If you didn't belong to any NPN clique, you were thought to belong to Chief Obafemi Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria, diminished in status and castrated as it were. Lade Bonuola was put down, and sent to work under a former subordinate. So, the coming of The Guardian was a professionally rejuvenating experience. This is not the time to tell the story of The Guardian. I am even one of the least competent to tell it, although I gave to it 17 years of my most creative and adventurous years.

Until a few years before my departure from The Guardian, I deliberately avoided direct dealings with Mr. Ibru. I was at various times Assistant Editor, Editor, Executive Director/Editor and Director of Publications/ Editor-in-chief. I was, and still is, a systems man. I'd rather report to the Publisher/Chairman, Alex Ibru, through my boss, Lade Bonuola. My job was to generate editorial and business ideas which would make The Guardian first choice newspaper in the market, and I think I did that to the best of my abilities. But Mr. Ibru always sought to work past the bosses, and the difficulties he had with me in that regard would make him conclude Bonuola and Kusa were two inseperable sides of a hardy coin, contrary to the reality of both of us being diametrically apposite people in many respects.

Many people saw Mr. Ibru as shrewd and unfeeling when he would be expected to lavish his money on his workers. Such people had no business instincts. Alex Ibru would spend working capital on nothing but the business. I didn't see his riches, let alone think of them or desire his crumbs. To me, he was just a human spirit privileged in this earth life to be entrusted with resources of Creation for the welfare of creatures of the Most High God. If he didn't use them the way he was meant to, that was a matter between him and his Maker. This concept of wealth, which he and I often discussed, led him to coin the slogan, "God's Money", which many staff of The Guardian often heard from him any time he had to square up against rippers of the company, sometimes ruthlessly. In this regard, he meant they were stealing from the Creator and it was his duty, as custodian, to stop them. I remember him dispatching Kingsley Osadolor to Zimbabwe in pursuit of a circulation clerk who fled from Warri or Ughelli when he was found out. His connections in the government of Zimbabwe paid off. I had no problem with "God's Money". I was brought up to be content with the little I had and to loathe subsistence on the crumbs from another man's table, whether freely given or stolen. Thus, I had to sell ice block, vegetable, chewing stick, palm oil, coconut and egg and raise pigs to keep my family going during General Sanni Abacha's proscription of The Guardian for one year. Alex had thought suffering would break our spirit to the point that we would beg Abacha for our lives.

So shrewd was Mr. Ibru as a businessman at the time I became editor of The Guardian that my salary was not topped to reflect the new office and extra workload until one year after when the company grudgingly made a token addition with only about three months arrears. The company simply said it had no money. I was not alone. Eluem Emeka Izeze, now Managing Director, was appointed editor of the Sunday title and Mitchell Obi was appointed editor of the afternoon title, Guardian Express. I earned Mr. Ibru's respect because I did not seek to make the company spend on me money it said was not available for spending. I asked Mr. Ibru if he would let me have a say in the budget of the newsroom if income in the following year exceeded his target, and he agreed, believing it was impossible, given the trends. He had just had a rumpus with Dr. Stanley Macebuh over the company's commercial viability. Many people thought we should bury our pride and accept obituary advertisements to earn four pages of advertisements every day to make us viable. I raised no objection, but looked beyond this scenario I had been tutored spiritually that competition and covetousness were the major causes of crises in man's affairs. Trying to take the obituary market from either The Daily Times or the burgeoning National Concord would exhaust us, we would not hit the target and Mr. Ibru would be impatient, if not angrier than he was with Dr. Macebuh. The sky was broad enough for all birds to fly in and not collide. Why not discover and nurture your own market? I had been studying the Columbia University Journalism Review and the Washington Journalism Review for trends in American and European newspapering which helped them survive the onslaught on radio and television. I saw that these newspapers were abandoning age old aloofness and connecting to society and the business class to create editorial/business niches for themselves which made every day of the week brandable as a product such as, say, Maggi or Milo. That was not being done in Nigerian newspapers. They all pursed, like a herd, public news, creating no variety or niches. I cannot detail here the many tortuous steps and sleepness nights it took to brand Monday as a PROPERTY day in The Guardian. My respect and grateful thanks for its success, like that of many other days of the week, Tuesday in particular, go to Mrs. Harriet Lawrence, Architect Paul Okunlola, Mr. Raheem Adedoyin, Mr. Jide Ogundele, Mr. Dele Babatunde and the likes of them who stoutly withstood acrimonious personal attacks from the rigid advertising department. Emeka Izeze was to replicate this idea with a Section for computers and information technology on the Sunday title which he edited. We made good money by the standards of those days. Mr. Ibru permitted three pay rises in one year. We bought 42 plots of land at Isheri from OPIC for staff who had spent five years with the company, and five hectares for the GNL to build a Guardian staff village. Had The Guardian flame been permitted to burn on, perhaps we would have had a more buoyant paper than The Guardian is today. Ethnic and religious jingoists detrailed the train after taking Alex Ibru hostage. Gen. Abacha also made a mince meat of it.

Mr. Ibru in my view exposed The Guardian to Abacha's danger. Perhaps unknown to Alex Ibru, Abacha wanted a formidable newspaper such as The Guardian to back his venture to sweep away Gen. Ibrahim Babangida contrived Interim National Government (ING) of Ernest Shonekan. I remember vividly an emergency meeting of the caucus of the Editorial Board to which Mr. Ibru summoned four of usŠ Lade Bonuola. Femi Kusa, Dr. Tunji Dare and Andy Akporugo. Akporugo was a "yes" man any day, and employed fear for top editorial people to keep Alex Ibru tightly under his armpit. He always asked in the newsroom if anyone had seen a Yoruba company in which an Urhobo man was managing director. One day, he and Bonuola almost came to blows at an editorial board meeting. Akporugo once told Tunji Dare Mr. Ibru had sent him to ask Tunji to resign one of his two powerful appointmentsŠ Chairman, Editorial Board, and Executive Director of Guardian Newspaper Ltd (GNL). Dr. Dare was lucky he discussed the matter with Lade Bonuola, then, I believe, GNL MD. Mr. Bonuola asked Dr. Dare two simple questions: Are your appointments not Board appointments, and has the Board met over such a question? Dr. Dare thanked Bonuola and went his way. Had Alex Ibru always played on level field, would such a confusionist have arisen in our ranks? Lest I derail, at that said emergency meeting, Alex Ibru said he had learned Abacha wanted to take over government the following day, and asked for an editorial opinion to be published hours before the general struck, telling him not to dare it. The editorial was published in the morning as requested, and in the 4.0'clock news Alex Ibru's name was mentioned on national radio as having been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs! Dr. Dare was to say afterwards that, from the manner Mr. Ibru spoke to him at a diplomatic party one or two days before that emergency meeting, it was clear the publisher was privy to his appointment, and may have accepted it!

My next shocking experience with Alex Ibru was to come - He freely went into politics. I recall suggesting to him at the Editorial Board meeting he attended to say he was going, that he should resign from GNL Board so as not to drag The Guardian along. He humbly did. But he would love us to come to Abuja to "brainstorm" with him. I do not know if anyone agreed. Without my knowledge, he got my deputy, Kingsley Osadolor, to go to Abuja. And the resultant copy, INSIDE ASO ROCK, which Mr Osadolar did not clear with me before publication, perhaps because the matter was beyond me anyway, led to Abacha's proscription of The Guardian.

Mr Ibru failed to take personal responsibility for this event. He would rather see the proscription as caused by the pro-democracy stance of the newspaper. It was even speculated that he was toying with the idea of neutralising Yoruba elements in senior positions to re-assure Abacha he had ridden the paper of his enemies. Before then, he called a meeting to demand the directors and editors go to Abuja to beg Abacha to re-open The Guardian. Abacha had been under international pressure to let go. But he was seeking a local explanation for the reopening. The Punch, too was under lock and key. The journalists at The Punch voted not to go, and they didn't. Alex Ibru scooped the editors of The Guardian to his side. At a Board meeting to resolve the disagreement of Lade Bonuola, Mr Ibru asked him rather roughly and crudely to resign his office as Managing Director if he would not go. The question was: does one bow one's spirit before evil for the sake of bread and butter!. Lade Bonuola looked Alex Ibru straight in the eyes, and resigned his appointment as Managing Director of The Guardian.

Alex Ibru didn't expect it. Silence fell. The fighter that he was, Alex Ibru turned to me and appointed me Managing Director of The Guardian. It took me by surprise. I had expected he would find a way to mend fences with Bonuola. Alex Ibru should have known I am not a man who, for a pot of porridge, hacks down the man above to inherit his estate. It was one of those occasions in my life when my brimming spirit gave no room to the intellect. I rejected the offer and said, having rejected it, it was only honourable for me to resign my appointment as Director of Publications/Editor-in-Chief. It is that man whose faith in God has not become conviction in Him who fears the morrow and goes for the crumbs. My resignation generated uproar. Mr Ibru was shouting and sweating. He called me an ingrate, said he made me editor against the wishes of Macebuh and others. I replied that I didn't beg to be editor, or know of any intrigues he swept away for me. In any case, didn't I justify my appointment? Didn't the company become profitable in the first year of my editorship of the newspaper? Dr. Tuji Dare, Sully Abu and Eddy Madunagu did not attend the meeting, wishing to be identified as having even contemplated the idea, and having resigned their Board appointments hitherto. Mr Ososami, a director and childhood friend of Alex Ibru, brokered peace, advising we went for lunch during which rioting emotions would have calmed. We did. During lunch time, Alex Ibru was saved by Nicholas Iduwe, the director who managed printing aspects, from taking a rash decision that may have drowned The Guardian. Ibru told Iduwe he would call the bluff and make Andy Akporugo Managing Director. Iduwe screamed, and told Alex many reasons why he should not. He suggested instead that he mend fences with Bonuola. Alex Ibru saw reason through his anger, and agreed. But he made a bad unmanagerial mistake in telling Akporugo what Iduwe had said of him. Akporugo was angry, and waited for an opportunity to punish Iduwe. Iduwe and Alex Ibru soon had a disagreement. Ibru wanted directors of The Guardian to adjudicate. Bonuola declined on the grounds that the matter was private, not corporate enough to warrant our attention Alex Ibru angrily transferred the inquisition to the directors of Federal Palace Hotel, a sister company of which he, also, was chairman. Those directors nailed Iduwe, calling for his retirement. Alex Ibru brought the "judgment" back to Bonuola, asking him to implement it. Bonuola declined again. Alex Ibru then got Mr Oritshani, Admin Controller to do the dirty job. The man did! Alex was determined to break this intransigence. But he didn't have the opportunity before his shooting. It was nevertheless on his mind, and, using Akporugo, it was one of his first acts on returning from exile in England. He dissolved the Board which had faithfully held the fort for him, turned directors into Consultants who were to only advise their juniors who were immediately upgraded as new helmsmen of the company. It was a way of telling the old guard that if they had any sense of shame, it was time to go. Some of us did.

There was jubilation in The Guardian. But I do not think it took long before the new helmsmen experience Mr Ibru. It is not my place to try to know what went on after my departure. I haven't set foot on the grounds of The Guardian since my exit about 13 years ago. A dog doesn't return to its vomit, it is said. But suffice it to say Mr Alex Ibru's departure would have as much profound effects on the company as his presence. The challenge before the new managers should be to turn it into a real institution, one with checks and balances, not the one that looks like one on the outside but is not within the perimeter fencing.

The best bet may be for the family to make it a PUBLIC TRUST as Alex Ibru so often dreamed. Maiden, the widow, should learn to be wary of all the do-gooder sympathisers. I send her and the Ibru brothers and sisters heart-felt wishes for inner strength to go through this season

Bye, Alex.

--

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
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USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
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England, he showed me his custom-made car which was much bigger than a Rolls Royce, and I told him he would be stoned on the roads of Lagos if he drove it there. He said, even in England, policemen saluted him in it.

That was the Alex Ibru I worked with, not worked for, between 1983 and 1999. There's a huge difference between working with and working for. When you work for, you are a slave, you may be owned. By 1977, I had known no one owned anything, not even his or her life, children, wife or husband, even property. Working with, you work for yourself, working as if the company belongs to you, one day expecting the reward not from the employer, but from the application for personal ends of the inner heat you have generated working in love, and not out of the enslaving compulsion of duty.

Alexander Uruene Ibru founded The Guardian newspaper in 1983 at a time many journalists of conscience were fed up with manipulations of the The Daily Times, then the leading newspaper, by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Umaru Dikko was leading our editor, Martin Iroabuchi, by the nose. One of the directors could take your secretary on a trip abroad without any notice and you dared not raise a finger against her. Martin often demanded that headlines be submitted to complete strangers to the organisation for vetting. The News Editor, Felix Odiari, had links to Moshood Kasimawo Abiola (MKO). Bamanga Tukur had his own insiders. If you didn't belong to any NPN clique, you were thought to belong to Chief Obafemi Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria, diminished in status and castrated as it were. Lade Bonuola was put down, and sent to work under a former subordinate. So, the coming of The Guardian was a professionally rejuvenating experience. This is not the time to tell the story of The Guardian. I am even one of the least competent to tell it, although I gave to it 17 years of my most creative and adventurous years.

Until a few years before my departure from The Guardian, I deliberately avoided direct dealings with Mr. Ibru. I was at various times Assistant Editor, Editor, Executive Director/Editor and Director of Publications/ Editor-in-chief. I was, and still is, a systems man. I'd rather report to the Publisher/Chairman, Alex Ibru, through my boss, Lade Bonuola. My job was to generate editorial and business ideas which would make The Guardian first choice newspaper in the market, and I think I did that to the best of my abilities. But Mr. Ibru always sought to work past the bosses, and the difficulties he had with me in that regard would make him conclude Bonuola and Kusa were two inseperable sides of a hardy coin, contrary to the reality of both of us being diametrically apposite people in many respects.

Many people saw Mr. Ibru as shrewd and unfeeling when he would be expected to lavish his money on his workers. Such people had no business instincts. Alex Ibru would spend working capital on nothing but the business. I didn't see his riches, let alone think of them or desire his crumbs. To me, he was just a human spirit privileged in this earth life to be entrusted with resources of Creation for the welfare of creatures of the Most High God. If he didn't use them the way he was meant to, that was a matter between him and his Maker. This concept of wealth, which he and I often discussed, led him to coin the slogan, "God's Money", which many staff of The Guardian often heard from him any time he had to square up against rippers of the company, sometimes ruthlessly. In this regard, he meant they were stealing from the Creator and it was his duty, as custodian, to stop them. I remember him dispatching Kingsley Osadolor to Zimbabwe in pursuit of a circulation clerk who fled from Warri or Ughelli when he was found out. His connections in the government of Zimbabwe paid off. I had no problem with "God's Money". I was brought up to be content with the little I had and to loathe subsistence on the crumbs from another man's table, whether freely given or stolen. Thus, I had to sell ice block, vegetable, chewing stick, palm oil, coconut and egg and raise pigs to keep my family going during General Sanni Abacha's proscription of The Guardian for one year. Alex had thought suffering would break our spirit to the point that we would beg Abacha for our lives.

So shrewd was Mr. Ibru as a businessman at the time I became editor of The Guardian that my salary was not topped to reflect the new office and extra workload until one year after when the company grudgingly made a token addition with only about three months arrears. The company simply said it had no money. I was not alone. Eluem Emeka Izeze, now Managing Director, was appointed editor of the Sunday title and Mitchell Obi was appointed editor of the afternoon title, Guardian Express. I earned Mr. Ibru's respect because I did not seek to make the company spend on me money it said was not available for spending. I asked Mr. Ibru if he would let me have a say in the budget of the newsroom if income in the following year exceeded his target, and he agreed, believing it was impossible, given the trends. He had just had a rumpus with Dr. Stanley Macebuh over the company's commercial viability. Many people thought we should bury our pride and accept obituary advertisements to earn four pages of advertisements every day to make us viable. I raised no objection, but looked beyond this scenario I had been tutored spiritually that competition and covetousness were the major causes of crises in man's affairs. Trying to take the obituary market from either The Daily Times or the burgeoning National Concord would exhaust us, we would not hit the target and Mr. Ibru would be impatient, if not angrier than he was with Dr. Macebuh. The sky was broad enough for all birds to fly in and not collide. Why not discover and nurture your own market? I had been studying the Columbia University Journalism Review and the Washington Journalism Review for trends in American and European newspapering which helped them survive the onslaught on radio and television. I saw that these newspapers were abandoning age old aloofness and connecting to society and the business class to create editorial/business niches for themselves which made every day of the week brandable as a product such as, say, Maggi or Milo. That was not being done in Nigerian newspapers. They all pursed, like a herd, public news, creating no variety or niches. I cannot detail here the many tortuous steps and sleepness nights it took to brand Monday as a PROPERTY day in The Guardian. My respect and grateful thanks for its success, like that of many other days of the week, Tuesday in particular, go to Mrs. Harriet Lawrence, Architect Paul Okunlola, Mr. Raheem Adedoyin, Mr. Jide Ogundele, Mr. Dele Babatunde and the likes of them who stoutly withstood acrimonious personal attacks from the rigid advertising department. Emeka Izeze was to replicate this idea with a Section for computers and information technology on the Sunday title which he edited. We made good money by the standards of those days. Mr. Ibru permitted three pay rises in one year. We bought 42 plots of land at Isheri from OPIC for staff who had spent five years with the company, and five hectares for the GNL to build a Guardian staff village. Had The Guardian flame been permitted to burn on, perhaps we would have had a more buoyant paper than The Guardian is today. Ethnic and religious jingoists detrailed the train after taking Alex Ibru hostage. Gen. Abacha also made a mince meat of it.

Mr. Ibru in my view exposed The Guardian to Abacha's danger. Perhaps unknown to Alex Ibru, Abacha wanted a formidable newspaper such as The Guardian to back his venture to sweep away Gen. Ibrahim Babangida contrived Interim National Government (ING) of Ernest Shonekan. I remember vividly an emergency meeting of the caucus of the Editorial Board to which Mr. Ibru summoned four of usŠ Lade Bonuola. Femi Kusa, Dr. Tunji Dare and Andy Akporugo. Akporugo was a "yes" man any day, and employed fear for top editorial people to keep Alex Ibru tightly under his armpit. He always asked in the newsroom if anyone had seen a Yoruba company in which an Urhobo man was managing director. One day, he and Bonuola almost came to blows at an editorial board meeting. Akporugo once told Tunji Dare Mr. Ibru had sent him to ask Tunji to resign one of his two powerful appointmentsŠ Chairman, Editorial Board, and Executive Director of Guardian Newspaper Ltd (GNL). Dr. Dare was lucky he discussed the matter with Lade Bonuola, then, I believe, GNL MD. Mr. Bonuola asked Dr. Dare two simple questions: Are your appointments not Board appointments, and has the Board met over such a question? Dr. Dare thanked Bonuola and went his way. Had Alex Ibru always played on level field, would such a confusionist have arisen in our ranks? Lest I derail, at that said emergency meeting, Alex Ibru said he had learned Abacha wanted to take over government the following day, and asked for an editorial opinion to be published hours before the general struck, telling him not to dare it. The editorial was published in the morning as requested, and in the 4.0'clock news Alex Ibru's name was mentioned on national radio as having been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs! Dr. Dare was to say afterwards that, from the manner Mr. Ibru spoke to him at a diplomatic party one or two days before that emergency meeting, it was clear the publisher was privy to his appointment, and may have accepted it!

My next shocking experience with Alex Ibru was to come - He freely went into politics. I recall suggesting to him at the Editorial Board meeting he attended to say he was going, that he should resign from GNL Board so as not to drag The Guardian along. He humbly did. But he would love us to come to Abuja to "brainstorm" with him. I do not know if anyone agreed. Without my knowledge, he got my deputy, Kingsley Osadolor, to go to Abuja. And the resultant copy, INSIDE ASO ROCK, which Mr Osadolar did not clear with me before publication, perhaps because the matter was beyond me anyway, led to Abacha's proscription of The Guardian.

Mr Ibru failed to take personal responsibility for this event. He would rather see the proscription as caused by the pro-democracy stance of the newspaper. It was even speculated that he was toying with the idea of neutralising Yoruba elements in senior positions to re-assure Abacha he had ridden the paper of his enemies. Before then, he called a meeting to demand the directors and editors go to Abuja to beg Abacha to re-open The Guardian. Abacha had been under international pressure to let go. But he was seeking a local explanation for the reopening. The Punch, too was under lock and key. The journalists at The Punch voted not to go, and they didn't. Alex Ibru scooped the editors of The Guardian to his side. At a Board meeting to resolve the disagreement of Lade Bonuola, Mr Ibru asked him rather roughly and crudely to resign his office as Managing Director if he would not go. The question was: does one bow one's spirit before evil for the sake of bread and butter!. Lade Bonuola looked Alex Ibru straight in the eyes, and resigned his appointment as Managing Director of The Guardian.

Alex Ibru didn't expect it. Silence fell. The fighter that he was, Alex Ibru turned to me and appointed me Managing Director of The Guardian. It took me by surprise. I had expected he would find a way to mend fences with Bonuola. Alex Ibru should have known I am not a man who, for a pot of porridge, hacks down the man above to inherit his estate. It was one of those occasions in my life when my brimming spirit gave no room to the intellect. I rejected the offer and said, having rejected it, it was only honourable for me to resign my appointment as Director of Publications/Editor-in-Chief. It is that man whose faith in God has not become conviction in Him who fears the morrow and goes for the crumbs. My resignation generated uproar. Mr Ibru was shouting and sweating. He called me an ingrate, said he made me editor against the wishes of Macebuh and others. I replied that I didn't beg to be editor, or know of any intrigues he swept away for me. In any case, didn't I justify my appointment? Didn't the company become profitable in the first year of my editorship of the newspaper? Dr. Tuji Dare, Sully Abu and Eddy Madunagu did not attend the meeting, wishing to be identified as having even contemplated the idea, and having resigned their Board appointments hitherto. Mr Ososami, a director and childhood friend of Alex Ibru, brokered peace, advising we went for lunch during which rioting emotions would have calmed. We did. During lunch time, Alex Ibru was saved by Nicholas Iduwe, the director who managed printing aspects, from taking a rash decision that may have drowned The Guardian. Ibru told Iduwe he would call the bluff and make Andy Akporugo Managing Director. Iduwe screamed, and told Alex many reasons why he should not. He suggested instead that he mend fences with Bonuola. Alex Ibru saw reason through his anger, and agreed. But he made a bad unmanagerial mistake in telling Akporugo what Iduwe had said of him. Akporugo was angry, and waited for an opportunity to punish Iduwe. Iduwe and Alex Ibru soon had a disagreement. Ibru wanted directors of The Guardian to adjudicate. Bonuola declined on the grounds that the matter was private, not corporate enough to warrant our attention Alex Ibru angrily transferred the inquisition to the directors of Federal Palace Hotel, a sister company of which he, also, was chairman. Those directors nailed Iduwe, calling for his retirement. Alex Ibru brought the "judgment" back to Bonuola, asking him to implement it. Bonuola declined again. Alex Ibru then got Mr Oritshani, Admin Controller to do the dirty job. The man did! Alex was determined to break this intransigence. But he didn't have the opportunity before his shooting. It was nevertheless on his mind, and, using Akporugo, it was one of his first acts on returning from exile in England. He dissolved the Board which had faithfully held the fort for him, turned directors into Consultants who were to only advise their juniors who were immediately upgraded as new helmsmen of the company. It was a way of telling the old guard that if they had any sense of shame, it was time to go. Some of us did.

There was jubilation in The Guardian. But I do not think it took long before the new helmsmen experience Mr Ibru. It is not my place to try to know what went on after my departure. I haven't set foot on the grounds of The Guardian since my exit about 13 years ago. A dog doesn't return to its vomit, it is said. But suffice it to say Mr Alex Ibru's departure would have as much profound effects on the company as his presence. The challenge before the new managers should be to turn it into a real institution, one with checks and balances, not the one that looks like one on the outside but is not within the perimeter fencing.

The best bet may be for the family to make it a PUBLIC TRUST as Alex Ibru so often dreamed. Maiden, the widow, should learn to be wary of all the do-gooder sympathisers. I send her and the Ibru brothers and sisters heart-felt wishes for inner strength to go through this season

Bye, Alex.

--

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groupsgoogle.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

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