I can say without equivocation, that Punch offered me my best years in journalism.
I came in as a timid, innocent young man who didn’t know what an airport looked like. I left as a confident adult who had interacted with top personalities round the world. In between, were many challenges but as Punch grew from a weekly to a daily, and matured into a leading voice in the country, a few of us grew and matured with it. I started as a Features Writer and became Columnist, Assistant Editor, Star Writer and Sunday Editor. All of these took about ten years. There were many offers along the line – from existing publications, to new ones and even from Advertising Agencies – but very few reasons to leave. I enjoyed the confidence of Sam Amuka, my Managing Editor and Olu Aboderin, my Chairman both of whom entrusted special assignments to me. It was not just the professional area. I made friends that have endured till today.
One man read one script by me, just one, and promised to make me a superstar. He piled me with foreign papers. He would ring some articles in those publications with the remark ‘for you Muyiwa, I am sure you can do this’.And so the nurturing challenges continued. He made me to learn to crawl, to walk and to run. My column for Happy Home Magazine started within a year of joining Punch – at his instance. My interview column started a couple of years later – at his instance. My trips around the world started in my fifth year – at his instance. Twice he asked me to understudy the Editor – I probably would have been the youngest Editor ever – twice I balked, preferring to work the field. They say time goes fast when you are having fun and I was having fun. Nothing, and no one could turn my head. The offers came and went, sometimes even to be a shareholder in publishing ventures, but I was undeterred.
Then came an offer I couldn’t refuse, or, put differently, I’d be an ingrate to refuse. When a man to whom you owe so much professionally and even personally – we played squash together on Sundays and attended private parties at his instance – needs you, it becomes payback time. Even then, he was circumspect after he had told me so much about his plans for a newspaper. He knew what I had become in Punch. He suspected what I could become if I stayed on and he probably loved me too much to want to derail that. Or he didn’t want me to have to say no to his offer. In the end, I was the one who offered myself with ‘I will come if you want me’ or something akin to that. His enthusiastic response showed it was a weight off both shoulders. Salary was not discussed; editorial position was not discussed at the time because my coming was not contingent on them.
My imminent exit from Punch triggered an alarm bell from people who felt I was leaving certainty for uncertainty. But I knew the man I was going to work with both professionally and personally. I knew I was going to have a free hand. So I would be as much to blame as him if the project didn’t work out. That Vanguard became so successful so quickly must be a tribute to the team we had, the leadership we had and the focus we had.
I learnt about managing human beings, about pulling different personalities in a unified direction to align with a common vision. I learnt about the weighty responsibilities involved in out of station postings – the emotional ties that might be strained or cut in the process. I will always remember Ralph Ibiwoye, Vanguard’s first General Manager, for his advice and calming influence during these early weeks and months.
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