By Basit Olatunji
In Persona Non Grata, a memoir by Ismail Omipidan, the author demonstrates how he walked the tightrope of “nobodiness” to attain assertive eminence
In 2005, when he was declared a Persona Non Grata by an erstwhile Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sherif, the governor did so because the author, a fierce and fearless journalist, was pressing his neck with the truth and was confronting him with the blatant injustice of his administration. Persistent and unrelenting in his pursuit of justice and fairness through professional journalism, despite threats and failed attacks from different quarters, Omipidan continued to unsettle the governor with his unwillingness to concede to his ‘patronising’ and threat, which made the governor confer on him an unceremonious title, which from the early years to the career days of the author, sums up his trajectory and tenacity as a courageous journalist in the face of trouble.
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To the governor, the title meant an outright rejection, if not more of a condemnation of his professionalism and uncompromising personality. The events that ensued before and after the governor’s declaration strongly invalidated such naming. How can a journalist of Omidipan’s calibre be muffled? Of course, certain professions are not suitable for fickle minds. Definitely, journalism, given all the Nigerian peculiarities, is not for a persona muta. Didn’t Shakespeare declare that cowards die many times before their death? For Omidipan, cowardice was never an option; bravery was key to his victory and glory.
In the memoir, Omipidan contextualizes his persona non grata’s status in four perspectives – his encounter with his Biology teacher in secondary school, encounter with admissions officer in BUK, encounter with a senior editor at The Punch and various pull-him-down moments at The Sun in several professional outings. Bearing in mind that persona non grata is a Latin expression for an unwanted/unwelcome guest – one who has overstayed or abused his welcome. In the light of this, Omidipan intimates us with how he was perceived unwelcome at different stages of his life and career and how his tenacious character and sterling stature in the field of journalism offended his supposed detractors and colleagues – Ọ̀tá ẹni kò kín pa òdù-ọ̀yà.
In the beginning, the memoir offers a deep reflection on the author’s birth, childhood and education in Otukpo, Benue and Kaduna States respectively. We are acquainted with the gentlemanliness and disarming character of his father and the grit of his mother as a non-indigene politician and chairlady of Otukpo market women who rose to prominence in an unfriendly political atmosphere of a military regime. To have such a combination in one’s parents growing up is such a rarity – it set the firm foundation that prepared the then young Ismail for his rocky but triumphant career.
Bí’mọ ò jọ sòkòtò, yíò jọ kíjìpá, so the Yoruba say. That Omidipan remained unyielding in his principles and steadfast in his pursuit of the true essence of journalism is a culmination of his unblemished, yet adequate childhood trainings – credits to his gentlemanly father who taught him love by keeping open arms to his friends and accompanying his mother to her nocturnal political meetings, and her mother’s courage to defend justice and her constant reminder of why it was important for him not to derail from achieving his dreams.
While in secondary school, Omidipan demonstrated one key attribute he inherited from his parents, particularly his mother, for the first time, when he corrected a teacher about a missing part of the note he was dictating verbatim from a textbook he thought his students wouldn’t have access to. This encounter turned out to be the first time Omipidan would become a persona non grata as the teacher banished him permanently from attending his class. This ‘unwelcomeness’, ironically, made him do what he had always desired to do from the onset – to be an Arts student. However, not without a cost – he failed his exams as a Science student. He re-enrolled as an Arts student, attended classes on Government and Literature and wrote the SSCE three times before he made it.
What about his ordeal in securing admission to study Mass Communication in Kaduna Polytechnic? It took a countless number of letters and visitations to the residence of Dr Nur Yakubu, the then Rector, before he could gain admission. Similar occurrence took place when he sought admission to Bayero University Kano. He was still treated as a persona non grata by an admissions officer in the Department of Mass Communication on the account that he was not and could not speak Hausa. The man declared: “You are a Muslim and you don’t understand Hausa. If you can’t speak Hausa, you are not fit for BUK.” The author overcame the storm when he eventually secured admissions at Kadpoly for his HND and University of Maiduguri for his degree in quick succession. Omipidan’s courage to keep going despite this rejection validates the popular saying that delay is not denial.
At a point while reading the memoir, I felt like the naming of the author as a persona non grata by Governor Sherif has a retrospective effect in his life and career. During the author’s stint at The Punch as an intern, he experienced the hostility of one editor, who made a condescending remark about his supposed northern identity by dismissing him as a half-baked intern who lacked adequate education to succeed in his new role. He went ahead to wow his bosses with a fantastic story that made a screaming headline about the unrest going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Omipidan’s grit and resilience seem to be fuelled by people’s doubt in his ability and dearth of confidence in his capacity to excel.
Omipidan as a Trouble Maker
The “Other Nigerian” image that Omidipan embodied put him in a difficult situation where it was important for him to navigate the political terrain of the north with great caution and wisdom. His persona non grata status meant he had to choose his friends and foes wisely. Nevertheless, he had to do his job as a journalist without comprising his integrity. How then could Omipidan do his job without looking for trouble? Can journalists in any society distance themselves completely from troubles? Salman Rushdie made this abundantly clear when he asserted that a free society is not an eventless society; the only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame. That is, a true journalist must always strive to criticize those at the helms of governance when they try to create a fully controlled society – authoritarian enough to give no room for criticism and dissent opinions.
In essence, the trouble-maker image of the author is justified in his journalistic quest to speak the truth to the powers that be. Omipidan was indeed a trouble-maker. In this regard, the author declares that no one speaks the truth, to the Nigerian politicians especially, without looking for troubles. Clearly, his memoir perfectly captures the trajectory of a true journalist as one fully packed with the oxymoronic binaries of troubles and trophies; travails and triumphs. The question now is, will s/he surmount the troubles to reach his glory?
Omipidan as an Alien
The stellar performance of the author as an upright journalist in the years prior to 2019 was, in fairness, deserving of his appointment as Chief Press Secretary to Governor Oyetola. The fact that he was overwhelmingly recommended further confirms the goodwill he enjoys amongst his colleagues, friends and acquaintances. This means Omipidan did not just make enemies in his career as a journalist, he succeeded in making the enemies as well as his friends see through his humanity and the purity of his quest. Similarly, he highlights fairness, contentment, consistency with the truth and purity of purpose as the core of true journalism.
Additionally, that appointment is a fulfilment of his late mother’s wish to come close to Osun, his origin. However, understandably, he was not received with open arms in Osun – because he never lived there and knew little to nothing about its political terrains. Secondly, the Osun APC believed he was just an opportunist who came to reap where he did not sow. Thus, the hostility, even within the governor’s circus, is understandable. For me, Omipidan’s account of how he survived and managed the internal and external hostilities of the APC and PDP especially during the EndSARS protest through inheriting his principal’s enemies is highly commendable.
As an indigene of Osun, I could relate with many of the issues raised about the Osun APC-PDP politics of those years as well as the internal crisis that tore the Osun APC apart. I would say that Omidipan’s reflection offers in-depth insight into what many like me might have been misinformed or misguided about. For instance, I used to believe that the APC crisis in Osun stemmed from the fact that Governor Oyetola was hell-bent, out of arrogance and disrespect to his predecessor, on rubbishing Governor Aregbesola’s legacies, one of which is public school uniform saga. But the author’s revelations about how Oyetola managed Osun’s troubled economy and the steps he took to reconcile with Aregbesola and other aggrieved groups opened my eyes to many things I had been misguidedly judgmental about. I just wish there will be another memoir soon (from the other side) that will refute or affirm Mr Omipidan’s claims. Only time will tell!
On the whole, I find Omipidan’s memoir gripping and spellbound. I had never finished reading a book in one go. This compelling memoir is the first. The amazing journey of his childhood and the intrigues of his career progression from the north to the south sustained my interest to the end.
•Olatunji teaches at the Department of Languages and Linguistics, Fountain University, Osogbo.
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