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(1) So, here I was in the newsroom, in this newspaper where I was doing my internship, and seated before me was a former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria whom my editor assigned me to interview for a news story.
(2) That was my first time sitting that close to a senator, former or serving. It was my first press interview outside school, I felt I shouldn’t disappoint the journalism teachers who taught me at UNN. I felt I should also make my editor(s) proud. So I asked the first question.
(3) The response I got wasn’t what I expected or would have expected – nobody, not my journalism professors back at UNN, not the journalism textbooks I have read back then, told me this could happen!
(4) “My son, I didn’t come here for you to ask me this type of question! Your editor should have told you why I am here,” the former senator said to me, after asking me politely to put off my recorder. I left him. Hurried to the editor’s office to inform him of what happened.
(5) If the senator’s action was a bullet that pierced through my soul, the editor’s response was like a bomb dropped on my head! “Cletus, whatever the senator tells you to do, just do it!” the editor told me. That remains my most shocking newsroom experiences till date.
(6) As a young man, that was the second time I would encounter the phrase “Whatever he tells you to do, do it”. The first was in the Bible, where Jesus’ mother told the servants (in the story of water being turned into wine), “Do whatever he tells you”.
(7) When I went back to senator, the interview took a U-turn, the senator was now the one telling me what questions to ask him. I put off the tape recorder each time and listened to him for what question I should ask. I then turned it on to ask him the same question.
(8) The Senator: “Cletus, ask me: 'why is it that my people love me, love me so much more than they have ever loved any other politician?'" Me: “Senator, why is it that your people love you so much? It appears they love you more than any other politician in your district?”
(9) Senator: “Thank you for that VERY IMPORTANT question. You see, for me, politics is all about service. My entire life, in and out of politics, has been all about service to my people. I am one person that is willing and always ready to render service to my people..."
(10) Senator: “Cletus, ask me, if my people want me to come back and serve them in whatever capacity, whether I will oblige.”
…. Kudos to @PremiumTimesng and other newsrooms that are doing great job, setting standards, and mentoring young reporters in Nigeria.
…. Kudos to @PremiumTimesng and other newsrooms that are doing great job, setting standards, and mentoring young reporters in Nigeria.
