Stanley Macebuh on my Mind

Stanley Macebuh on my Mind

Thursday, June 27, 2019 9:58 pm


The late Dr. Stanley Macebuh, The Guardian newspaper’s first Managing Director

By Godwin Adindu

I just stumbled on an old newspaper cut-out. In  it is a story written by Stanley Macebuh. The title is: The Last Iman. Let me not talk about the elegance of style and language. The piece brings back so many memories of my MD. 

Stanley Macebuh once warned me not to call him MD. “You should call me Stanley,” he hollered. 

“How dare me sir,” I stammered. “Its an insult sir,”  I continued. 

“Now, another offence. Dont mention sir again. Just say Stanley,” his tune was calm now. 

“I cannot say that sir,” I repeated, now fidgeting. 

He got up from his seat, pipe in one hand, some buddle of papers in another hand. A smoke was curling out from the pipe. He looked at me carefully and started walking towards the door. 

Then, l said: “sorry sir, but you have not signed my paper.” 

He returned to the seat and quietly spoke to me. It was a polite and convincing lecture on the new freedom I will gain in relating to him by calling him Stanley. 

He told me: “You write well, Godwin. We are equals so long as you write well. I learnt that you are Ndeayo Ziko’s boy. Ndeayo is training you well. But don’t learn his stubbornness.”

Then, back to my paper. It was a requisition for a trip. He used his red pen  and cancelled the ammount I requested and increased it by 50 percent. 

“You cannot bring  back a good story with that kind of amount in your pocket. You need to hang out and feel the city.” he said, and penned down his signature.

Stanley Macebuh was an emancipated soul of the liberal bent.

I miss my MD. I miss Stanley Macebuh.  May his soul rest in piece. I miss the newsroom of old. 

Who can send me that piece of his: The Cicero of Agodi?


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