WHO IS SCARED OF SAD SAM?
In his hay days as the writer of the erstwhile popular column, Sad Sam, Mr. Samuel Amuka-Pemu, used to be an interesting read.
And as a person that was properly stern in the culture and traditions of the Yoruba, especially, concerning how to relate with elders, it is almost difficult to engage Mr. Amuka-Pemu in a chit-chat on who is right or wrong on the alleged ritual killing of the yet to be identified fourteen year old boy, purportedly carried out by the distinguished publisher’s wife, Mrs. Oyindamola Amuka and four others said to be Muslim clerics.
It is indeed difficult to respond to Baba Amuka-Pemu knowing fully well that he is no longer who he used to be, especially with his growing frustration and desperation and failure to understand that the dynamics of technology-driven media practice cannot make every professional journalist subject to his entrenched dictates. We do not use the same outlet of conventional printed paper to publish.
With the conventional form which Amuka understood and genuinely made indelible contributions, we only succeeded at talking to ourselves within Nigeria.
It therefore serves no useful purpose when people decide to make those who do not use their own preferred medium to practice journalism and now make us look as if we are fake.
I hasten to correct the misleading notion and misinformation that we are fake journalists.
You know we hear things these days, and some of them can be out rightly silly. The story goes that Baba Amuka-Pemu assured the powers that be in Nigeria, that he is capable of rallying media owners and practitioners to destroy us. I think I want to disbelieve that tip-off until I hear the man’s version of what he promised Abuja. In case it is true, Amuka did not make us and there is no way he would be able to destroy us.
And for the purpose of clarification, there is no one at pointblanknews.com that is anti-Yar’Adua or anti-government. We are not pro anything or anybody either. Baba Amuka-Pemu cannot, therefore, claim that he loves Nigeria or Yar’Adua than we do.
That point has to be made because the entire hoopla last Tuesday that “guests” of pointblanknews.com were docked “for extortion” was meant to impress somebody somewhere else. And since Baba Amuka-Pemu doesn’t think that he is too old to use Bool ȩ kaja tactics, we make bold to let him know that we too can brandish a streak of cowboy attitude, Baba “should bring it on.”
Nobody should be duping the authorities in Abuja or anywhere in Nigeria, for that matter in the name of delivering fellow journalists up for persecution by the government.
In December of 2008, Mr. Steve Ogwu-Chinuwa was introduced to the editors of pointblanknews.com contrary to the fanciful “concoction” that the hack-writers, marauding as news reporters at Vanguard decided to feed the public in their on-line and street editions of Tuesday February 24 th, 2009. Mr. Ogwu-Chinuwa has been a freelance investigative and crime reporter with The Westerner and until his arrest on Friday 13 th, 2009, he was with the highly credible National Life newspaper of Lagos.
Pointblanknews.com carried out very rigorous background checks on this brilliant reporter before accepting to give him the platform which he had been denied at the instigation of the influential Vanguard Newspaper’s Publisher, and the so-called grand patron of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the very influential Mr. Samuel Pemu-Amuka.
In offering Mr. Ogwu-Chinuwa an access to tell his story concerning the alleged involvement of Mrs. Oyindamola Amuka in the purported ritual killing of the yet to be identified 14 year old cannot, and is not a breach of journalistic professional code of ethics or creed.
In demanding equity, the band of writers who chose sensationalism and vendetta instead of simply reporting what transpired in court, could not have hoped to gain the sympathy of the public or sway the discretion of the court by telling an ugly lie that Mr. Ogwu-Chinuwa is a “fake journalist.” He is not a “fake journalist” as the Vanguard would desperately want the outright falsehood aimed at denying Mr. Ogwu-Chinuwa his rightful professionality if unfair.
Until Vanguard newspaper decided to make this matter a direct fight against pointblanknews.com, we were merely doing our professional duty of making sure that every important story is put at the disposal of the public. Ogwu-Chinuwa is not an employee of pointblanknews.com. But his antecedent as an illustrious ex-policeman has enough recommendation for him as a crime-fighter. He was also the police orderly of the present Oba of Lagos, Eleko Babatunde Rilwan Akinolu. He served as his orderly when he was still a Deputy Inspector General of the Nigerian Police.
It smacks of dishonesty utter breach of ethics on the part of Vanguard to connive police and turn the table against this man. As if it was not enough insult to Nigeria’s nationhood and our collective sense of patriotism, Vanguard committed another delinquency in fabricating what was not in the police deposition to the art; it was not mentioned in court that Mr. Steve Ogwu-Chinuwa was an agent of pointblanknews.com. He is not our agent, but we shall stand by him to make sure that justice is served.
Vanguard also did a disservice to the ethical standard of our beloved profession by lying that we tried to extort money from Mrs. Amuka and her husband, Sam Amuka. We shall not be immodest and immoral like our detractors, but let us boldly declare: “We have enough” and there has never been any contact, minimal or otherwise between the Amuka, family or any of his agents. They have been the ones sending different questionable characters to sound us out to know if we would take anything to drop the story, but because “we have enough” we decided to publish and damn the consequence.
We live in America and work in America, we know the seriousness of corruption and operate by the highest ethical standard possible. It is shameful for the Vanguard, the Amuka family and the Police to form a multitude for the express purpose of deceiving the world, Nigerian and themselves, kill their own conscience as if not no murder was committed, a murder may have been committed and Steve Ogwu-Chinuwa is standing by his story.
No matter what influence Mr. Amuka thinks that he wields, he would soon realize that Nigeria, is a part of global village, called the international community, every international investigative capabilities would now be sought to get to the roof of this case, since the Police has demonstrated its incompetence and insincerity to stand for the truth and impartiality.
If the Police and the Amukas were being sincere, where else would anyone facing the serious charge of murder would be granted her international passport and allowed to fly abroad while still being investigated. They do not mean to insult our intelligence.
Second, why did the Police refuse to appoint an Investigative Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the matter? Why were efforts made to treat the matter in secrecy for more than one whole year?
Why was the lie told that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro was the one who ordered the arrest of Steve the simple truth is that the Lagos Police Commissioner, Mr. Marvel Akpovroe, was the one undecided to grant arbitrary favor to his kinsman, Mr. Amuka and chose to pervert the cause of justice.
How did Mrs. Amuka end up in sacrificial regalia? Was she dressed that garb under duress? This sure is never a world of fools, the world knows that something is indeed wrong with the disingenuous cock and bull story that Vanguard and the Police is shuffling down the throat of the court: they want to destroy our democracy, they want to mock judiciary!
Steve Ogwu-Chinuwa, has not confessed to extortion as mis-stated by the Police, he is waiting for his day in court. Infact he is calling for the whole trial to be made open so that the judiciary is not used to lynch him. All the so called confessions brought to court by the Police was crafted with the input of the Amukas and tailored towards one goal: to deceive and fool us all.
So since, we all understand each other that nobody has a monopoly of courage and boldness, Mr. Sam Amuka-Pemu should stop sending his employees like slaves who cannot exercise discretion or good and sound judgment and would want to malign with gusto. I am sure the late Olu Abuderin did not disrespect Mr. Amuka like that. He should focus his energy on worthy courses and stop trying to destroy us or discredit us. That strategy will not work because we do not carry the seed of corruption and profession misconduct.
