By Olumide Iyanda
Do you know what it means to lose a friend that loves you warts and all? I do. And I lost one on Wednesday, August 29. He is Ogbonna Amadi. Many know him as the group entertainment editor of Vanguard newspapers. I know him as a big brother with eye on all around him.
People talk about seeing death coming. If Amadi did, he never showed it. Some of those I spoke with immediately after I heard the horrible news told me he was at Lagos Television (LTV) premises less than 2 hours before his death. Guess what? He was trying to set up an interview with a musician.
You can never write the story of journalism in Nigeria without a generous mention of Amadi. He was that man that watered the career of everybody from Maman Shata to Eva Alordiah.
Amadi started reporting entertainment before some of the pant-sagging, synthesizers-enhanced new school musicians were born. But unlike other senior colleagues, he treated Davido with the same reverence with which he did Chief Stephen Osita Osabede. Amadi was the go-to guy for a lot of us who signed up to entertainment reporting long after he had made a name for himself in that genre. Baba Jude was also a very good friend of my family.
The last time I saw Amadi was on June 19, 2012 the day I turned 40. We were at the first anniversary of Azuh Arinze’s Yes! International magazine and he insisted I should drop him at my office in Ogba. Funso Arogundade of the NEWS/PM news was with us on the ride. We spent the almost two-hour drive talking about everything from the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria to Ali Baba. And after more than two decades on the beat, the man still spoke with lucidity and passion about all the subjects covered.
As I made to drop him at Independent Newspaper head office on WEMPCO Road, he turned to me and said ‘young man, let me buy you a plate of nkwobi at LASCOFIS to celebrate your 40th birthday. You deserve more than that, but that is the least I can do now knowing your mind is at work.’
I turned down the offer telling him there shall be greater mile stones to celebrate in the future. God knows I am still kicking myself for that. The last time we spoke was on Saturday, August 18, 2012. We shared ideas and dreams. He taunted me about his first son who had grown much taller than him and how he was playing catch up with the young man. We signed off with a promise that we shall always be in touch. Only for Amadious, as my wife would call him, to pull this on us.
If there was one man that knew about the politics of the Nigerian entertainment industry and the work place it was Amadi. Very few journalists have covered the beat as long as he did. And uncle Sam Amuka will tell anybody that Vanguard owes its continued regeneration in parts to him.
Amadi’s death is particularly painful to me because of the role he played in my life and career. Like me, ‘he had been there and don that’ on the job. The pressure got to him and he staggered once or twice but God and his family saw him through it all.
Many nice things have been said about Amadi. The truth is that he deserves all that and more. He had his failings like every other human. Ask me and I will tell you that you can’t travel this path in journalism as long as he did without stepping on certain landmines.
Amadi shared certain stories about love and life that will stay with me forever. The older I got the more he taught me about the birds and the bees. He taught me to respect people, especially those I write about. According to him, ‘the reason you go after interviews is because you believe the people will add value to your paper.’ He also believed in the gospel according to one of his bosses that ‘if anybody plays hard to get, you just ignore him or her.’
There are few places I have travelled to as an entertainment writer in Nigeria where I did not see Amadi’s foot print. Like many others, he cleared the path for younger colleagues like us to tread. He won many laurels on the job but his biggest achievement was the quality of copies he produced for Vanguard every week.
Amadi never stopped writing exclusive stories. He was the one that broke the story about Don Jazzy and D’banj feud while new school reporters were still dancing azonto. I will forever remember sharing a spotlight with him on March 31, 2009 when the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) honoured us for professionalism and advocacy for the protection of intellectual property in Nigeria.
Even Shaggy should remember the man that poked the good natured joke at him at Eko Hotel and Suites in December 2001when the Mr Lover man came to Nigeria on the bill of Nigerian Breweries.
There will never be another Amadi. He knows that. We all do too.
My prayer is that he finds peace with the Lord and he sees the light of His face. And that his family is comforted now and always.
*Iyanda is the editor of Saturday Independent
3 comments
When I clicked on this link I was praying it was a tribute for someone else written by Amadi. It will still take me a while to accept this. We worked together at Silverbird while I was there and he was media consultant and he has been a trusted friend through the years after. Amadi, you can’t seriously be gone? your memory will never die. Never , ever. Rest in peace my brother. Your time here was not in vain.
Its still hard for me to accept the fact that Amadi is the subject matter written in past tense. Is this the mortality people talk about?
Mr. Amadin that was how I use to call you. Working with you in MCSN was one the most outstanding moments of my career, you taught me on how to put my ideas on paper, you encouraged me to channel my energy into advertising and public relations. The aura around your personality was incredible, you knew the Nigerian entertainment industry more than most of your colleagues.
Your passion for the liberalization of the Collective Management Organizations was outstanding that was why Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) honoured you for professionalism and advocacy for the protection of intellectual property in Nigeria., you stood for the truth at all time. You loved God as if you knew you leave this world very early. You loved your wife and children with passion. Above all you were a gentleman of class and you made love journalism. Adieu Mr. Amadin, The Guru, Ogbuefi of the universe.