Comrade Jola Ogunlusi, national secretary of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, from 1978 to 1990, in an interview with MOYO FABIYI to mark his 80th birthday, reveals why he has cause to be grateful to God What is the secret of your longevity? Yes, longevity runs in my family. My father died at 131, grandma at 122 and my mother at 110. But as for the secret of the longevity, I don’t know. But I do know that anyone who wants to live long should not eat all those sophisticated foods (junk) that many people eat. For me, I eat vegetables a lot. I don’t patronise the eateries. Another secret of my life is that long ago, I discovered that the drugs we take do not help us much. I prefer to take natural herbs. An example: I think, about 1965 I took ill. A doctor friend had lost hope of my surviving. For about three days I could not eat, my temperature was over 200. He said it would be a miracle if in two days I was alive. I went to Ekiti so that I would not die in Ibadan. When I got home and my grandma saw my worsened health she ordered somebody to rush to the farm and get a particular herb. I used it to bath and drank part of it. Thereafter I purged. Soon, I recovered. I would have died if I did not go home. What was your background like? I was born in Esun-Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State on 25 September, 1934. I started elementary school late. What was partly responsible for this was that I was a spoilt child; in the sense that I grew up with my grandmother, Princess Oguntuka, also from a royal family but married to Oba Adumore, Elesun of Esun-Ekiti. At that time, of my mother’s 10 children, only two, I and Mrs. Idowu Aruleba, mother of Gbenga Aruleba of AIT, survived. I was given many abiku names, which I jettisoned later and adopted Emmanuel Ajijola-Iya. I attended different schools in Odo Oke, Aiyedun and Esun-Ekiti and finally completed my standard six in 1953. There was no job for a year. I was going to farm with my father. But from 1955 to 1958 I was a teacher. My first salary was £48 per annum. It was later increased to £56 a year with arrears. From my salary arrears I bought a bicycle which I rode to school. It was a fine, well-decorated bicycle. Early in life, what was your ambition? What informed your choice of profession? My preference was to study medicine in the university. Two incidents motivated me. First, in 1955 when I was a teacher, they sent to me that my only sister, Idowu, mother of Gbenga Aruleba, was ill. I returned home late in the day. They had already wrapped her, presumed she was dead. I went into the room, took her hand and noticed she was warm. I used my knowledge of first aid to remove the mucus that blocked her nostrils. Then she started breathing. She was revived. She later vomited, stooled. After a few hours, she asked for food and was given ogi (corn pap) to drink. That informed why many so-called abiku died and were buried for lack of simple medicare. The other incident also convinced me that many accident victims died because they were abandoned and lacked care. One day there was a terrible traffic snarl that forced people to track from Anthony to Ikeja through Maryland. When we got near Ikeja police barrack, we saw an accident victim abandoned inside his car. I and another person assisted him. At Ikeja General Hospital, doctors were able to revive him. They attended promptly to the victim. Through an identity card I recovered from his car, I was able to locate his office and relations. The man survived because he was attended to promptly after our intervention. The two incidents encouraged me to be a medical doctor. But how did you find your way into journalism? In 1958 I had already concluded plans to attend St. Andrew’s College, Oyo to train as a Grade II teacher. But I decided otherwise because I said if going to teachers’ college would not help me to read medicine, I had better go to secondary school and pursue my ambition. When, in 1959, Ansar-ud-Deen High School, Ikole-Ekiti was established, I was one of the first set. Because of my age and experience as a teacher, I did well in the entrance examination. I was a prefect. The Anglican Church and other Christian missions did not want me and others to go to Muslim school. My father was persuaded not go support me. At the outset, he did not. But I was able to pay for my first year tuition and boarding fees of £60 from my savings as a teacher and support from my mother. However, there was a serious setback to my educational career in 1962 when I was in form four. On the intervention of Chief Areola, my father agreed to sponsor my education when I was in form two. But in 1962, his cocoa farm was gutted by fire. As at that time, six of his children were in schools; I was the eldest. I personally offered to travel from Ekiti to Ibadan to look for a job while I read for my GCE to pursue my education. In 1963, I joined Iroyin Yoruba, published by Nigerian Tribune in Ibadan, as a reporter. I was in their Lagos office at Elephant House, Broad Street, Lagos. The Late Chief Ade Olofin was my editor then. He was also an Ekiti man. I also contributed new stories for Nigerian Tribune while in the stable of African Newspapers Ltd. I also worked with Gbohungbohun, the vernacular newspaper of Sketch Press Ltd., also based in Ibadan. I was also a reporter for both Sunday and Daily Sketch from 1963 to 1972. Before I left Sketch Press, I had an issue with my city editor, the late Tunde Odole. He used the opportunity of a re-organisation to ease me out when there was a retrenchment. Chief Pearce, who was City Editor of New Nigerian, encouraged me to join the paper on freelance. I wrote good stories that were published on the front and back pages of New Nigerian and the money I made on lineage in two weeks was more than my monthly salary while I was with the Sketch. New Nigerian later started printing in Lagos. New staff were needed and I became a full-time staff on 15 March 1973. I was with New Nigerian as Labour/Economy reporter from 1973 till 1978. Could it be the enjoyment or perks of journalism that truncated your ambition to study medicine and qualify as a medical doctor? No. When I entered journalism, I had thought the profession was going to be a stepping stone for me to study medicine. I had two important papers, Chemistry and Physics, to pass in my GCE. And so every year I was writing GCE to pass them. I did not until one particular year; I think, 1975. My city editor said, ‘Jola, I don’t think I will henceforth excuse you from duty to write this your Chemistry/Physics papers. I wonder what else you need that you must write GCE every year.’ Then I stopped and gave up the ambition. Did you receive only on-the-job training or attended other courses in journalism outside the newsroom? I attended a course in 1966 organised by International Federation of Journalists and African Journalists Institute at the end of which I bagged a diploma in Journalism. I also obtained a certificate in Labour and Industrial Relations from the International Institute of Labour, Economic and Social Development, Lagos. Aside other certificates in journalism and labour and industrial relations I also did correspondence courses in these fields. I attended seminars both locally and abroad. One of the courses I did overseas was at Hungary in the Eastern bloc in Europe. I had to travel through Ghana after I had obtained a West African passport through the assistance of the late Dr. Tunji Otegbeye. Do you have children who take after you as a journalist or any who pursued your earlier ambition to study medicine? None of my children studied medicine. The only one who is a science student read computer science. He is presently with Eko F.M. radio. I have no children who showed interest in journalism. Only the one at Eko FM is near it. He reads news at the radio station. Can you recall some lessons journalism taught you? There were many lessons the profession taught me which, if I had been in another field or profession I would not have had the opportunity to know. The exposure I had would not have been there. I travelled far and wide. In Africa, I went to countries like Egypt, Sudan. I visited all West African countries. I was also in Ethiopia, Kenya. I travelled to many countries in Europe including Germany, Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary etc. I attended many conferences under the auspices of International Organisation of Journalists, IOJ, and International Labour Organisation, ILO. The profession also exposed me to reading. I love reading a lot. My library is stocked with books I bought overseas. Each time I travelled, I used to buy one book as a remembrance of my visit to the country. This gave me a wide range of knowledge. Another gain I can easily remember is leadership attribute. The profession prepared me for leadership positions. I had the opportunity to participate locally and internationally in highly-placed discussions on trade unionism and at government levels. Can you tell us some of the reasons you will roll out the drums to mark your four scores on Mother Earth? Sure, I have a lot of reasons to thank God. I have been involved in seven motor accidents both in Nigeria and overseas. God has been kind to me. I give thanks to God for sparing my life. Some people were involved in only one motor accident and they died. The last accident I had, seven persons died on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. I thank God for sparing my life.