The former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Moses Ekpo is a household name in the journalism profession both within and outside the country.
Ekpo who left office about a year and five months ago, is a member of several professional bodies and has contributed enormously towards the development of the journalism profession in Nigeria.
In recognition of these contributions, the national leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalist NUJ, yesterday honoured the journalism doyen with a Media Icon award at a ceremony in Lagos where the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno was also singled out and celebrated as Nigerias most friendly Media governor.
In this interview with the Deputy Editor (Daily), OSSOM ASAKA, the former number two citizen in the state says he dedicates the award to the forebears of journalism in Nigeria and urged present day practitioners to always be truthful in their reportage.
Excerpts:
I spoke with your friend this morning and he told me that the Moses Ekpo that he knows does not have many friends. Your Excellency, is this true? If yes, why?
I have many friends. But if friends are trusted people, confidants, if they are not the same thing as acquaintances yes, one has to have very few confidants.
But as you know in our kind of job, you need friends to be able to get your stories. So I have a large group of friends and acquaintances but I have a few confidants. It is natural.
The NUJ yesterday rolled out the red carpet and celebrated you as a media icon. How do you see this latest honour coming from the NUJ?
I am very excited. This honour goes to show that all our labours have not gone in vain, and that my own people recognize that I have been able to contribute to the development of journalism in the country.
You will recall that during the 30th anniversary of Akwa Ibom State, the government of the state under the leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel gave me the anniversary award of that year and underscored it, For the development of journalism in the country.
That coming from an outsider was elating but it was not as significant as this award which is coming from my own, the NUJ. I am told that they all agreed that I made a contribution to the development of journalism in the country. This is why I am excited.
Looking at the journalism profession today and when you first started, is there any trend the profession is following now which you feel should not be the case?
You cannot detach any profession from general development. It is part and parcel of the general development of a people. Yes, there are certain developments one thinks should not have happened because in our time it didnt happen. But we are in two very different time settings. What may have enabled me to say at that time it shouldnt have been done, what they are doing now might be different from what prevails.
But generally, I want to say that journalism has developed faster than this country has developed because of the foundation which the forefathers, Harbert Macaulay, Lateef Jakande, Bisi Onobanjo, and the rest of them had set. I am thrilled and as a matter of fact, I am dedicating this award to the forebears of journalism profession in Nigeria, and all my colleagues living or death who have been toiling to give a place and name to journalism in the development of Nigeria.
As one of the fathers of the journalism profession in Akwa Ibom nay Nigeria, what word of advice do you have for the present day practitioners?
Be honest and be patriotic because without patriotism, you cannot save your country in anyway.
If my colleagues today are truthful and are not greedy, if they are serious to ensure that the development of the people, that the good of the people is protected, they must not go reporting or writing what pleases Moses Ekpo or what pleases the other person. They should be formal in their approach to develop the country. The journalist holds the pace of development for any nation because if you inform wrongly, you cant get anyway. If you inform partially, you are playing one group against the other. So I will sum this up by saying be truthful.
How has it been like since you left office close to two years now?
When I left office after the expiration of our tenure, I decided that I want to get back home, stay there and recover what I missed when I was busy travelling all over the world.
This I think was the greatest decision that I made. I told myself that I will not leave my country home in Abak until after one year and a half. So far, I cant tell you how comfortable I have been in this place, I cant tell you what more I have learnt or even the feelings I had for these people that brought me forth. But I feel fulfilled that at least I have been able to tell this town Thank you for making me who I was. Without this land, there probably would not have been Moses Ekpo.
I have been here since the expiration of my tenure. I have not gone anywhere and I hardly go out visiting. That was why when a lot of my people heard of this award, they said yes, that will help bring me out from my hiding but very unfortunately, I was not there personally for the award because of the bereavement that the state had recently. But I only sent my friend to represent me at the award ceremony.
You had served as the Number Two man in Akwa Ibom Under Udom Emmanuel for eight years. Looking, back at those years, is there any action or decision you took or made that if given another opportunity, you would do them differently. In other words, do you have any regret whatsoever?
No regret, none whatsoever. If I have another opportunity to serve again as deputy governor under Udom Emmanuel, I will still do exactly what I did in those eight years.
So, I have no regret for any action or decision I took then. Let it also be on record that I was part and parcel of every decision that government took during my tenure. Whether it was right or whether it was wrong as may be conceived, I have no regret whatsoever.
I know that I may not have an opportunity to go back and redress any wrong that was perpetrated. So everything that I did, every contribution that I made, I made sure that it was made in the best interest of not just myself, not just the state but in the best interest of humanity.
A friend of yours I spoke with recently described you as a man who pays attention to details. He also said you have total loyalty to constituted authority.
But at the end of our discussion, he told me that if given on opportunity to work with you, he would prefer to have you as a subject and not as his boss, what is your take on this?
I am not a tax master of any kind. If you pay attention to details and you are loyal, what you are trying to do is to make sure that those details that matter are taken care of, knowing very well that some carelessness can really upset a lot of things.
Maybe that is why he may not have wanted to work with me as his boss because I dont like filling the gaps after the deeds have been done. Otherwise, I agree with him.
In our profession, you must pay attention to details because if you dont, then you are not reporting properly.
Your Excellency, who is Moses Ekpo to you?
Moses Ekpo is a son of a peasant father whose stock in trade was to let me know that you must pay respect to constituted authority.
He started by always telling me that God is a constituted authority and as such, you must at all times heed His commandment.
He also told me that whoever I work with, especially those I work under them, I should always work with them under Gods supervision.
Once you do that, you will now know that you need to pay attention to your detailed assignments; that you must not be arrogant but you must be proud of your work if you know you are doing a good job.
The office you once occupied as deputy governor is today being occupied be another person, same as the one that was occupied by your boss, Mr Udom Emmanuel.
From your experience of the demands of those two offices, what is your advice to their present occupants?
Always be yourself. I have said these before to my successor, the deputy governor. Loyalty has no percentage. Make sure you show total loyalty to your boss at every given time. Without total loyalty you cannot operate successfully.
And to the governor, your subordinate is your anchor, is your hand, your leg and your eye.
Respect begets respect. I enjoyed enormous respect from my boss, Deac Udom Emmanuel. Not because I was older in age, but because respect begets respect.
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