Peter Enahoro: A Legendary Journalist Goes Home

With the passing of Peter Osajele Aizegbeobor Enahoro, (Peter Pan) at the ripe age of 88, perhaps, an exciting chapter in the history of Nigerian journalism may have closed. He stumbled on mainstream journalism having started life as a government information officer. There is a fable on how he left government service to join the then famous Daily Times.

It was said that at a press conference in Lagos addressed by a colonial officer he followed up on a question that was considered embarrassing to the powers that be. He didn’t wait to be sacked, he quit on his own. It is not surprising that he came into a conflict with officialdom at that relatively young age. It runs in the family. His two brothers, Tony and Mike Enahoro were journalists too who defined the profession in those days both in the print and electronic. Tony Enahoro, an editor himself, later joined politics and was elected into the House of Representatives. It is on record that he moved the motion that eventually gave Nigeria her independence on October 1, 1960.

Peter Pan, as he was fondly called, a sobriquet that was lifted from his newspaper column of same title, told his own story of how he became an accomplished writer with a mere school certificate. “I read widely”, he was reported to have said “but not the James Hadley Chase stuff”. Peter was the youngest editor of the Daily Times of old. His radicalism could be gleaned from that perspective. And that made his godfathers in the newspaper group very uncomfortable and they humoured him by promoting him into obscurity as Editorial Adviser/ Editor-in-chief. In that capacity, “nobody needed my advice”, he told an interviewer with a wry grin.

Enahoro: Encounters With A Media Wizard 

Expectedly, in our opinion, his death is attracting tributes. Deservedly so. In his reaction, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that as a gifted and iconic journalist, author and publisher, Enahoro earned the public trust by his fearless writings, tenacity, and commitment to the pursuit of truth.  The President observed that the passion of the former Editor-in-Chief/Managing Director of the Daily Times, Assistant Publicity Officer, Department (now Federal Ministry) of Information and Pioneer Chairman, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission for public service was second to none, and that he used his knowledge and mastery to mentor people, who have also added value to journalism practice in the country.

Commenting on the news of Peter Enahoro’s death, the Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, remarked that he was a cerebral journalist, who deployed his intellect in the service of the country, providing and nurturing the space for healthy debates on national policies that impact the lives of the people.

“One can rightly say that his engagements were a labour of love for the development of Nigeria, and the vibrant press in the country today owes much of its credit to Pa Enahoro’s bold and courageous skill with the pen to hold those in power to account for their deeds”.

   Peter Enahoro was born on 21 January 1935 to a political family of Enahoro in Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria. He had a stint at St. Stephens Elementary School, Akure (Ondo State); CMS Primary School, Ado-Ekiti (Ondo State); Government School, Ekpoma (Edo State), St. David’s School, Akure (Ondo State), Government School, Warri (Delta State), before finishing high school at Government College, Ughelli (Delta State) in 1948.

As is already well known, Enahoro started his career in media as an Assistant Publicity Officer, in the Information Department now Federal Ministry of Information, 1954. He later joined Daily Times as a sub-editor in 1955, at the age of 20, before moving on to serve as Assistant District Manager at Rediffusion Services, Ibadan, in 1957. He became the Editor of the Nigerian Sunday Times in 1958 at the age of 23, and Features Editor of the Daily Times in 1958, then the paper’s Editor in 1962, going on to become the Daily Times Group Editorial Adviser in 1965, and in 1966 Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Times.

In the 1960s, Enahoro went into a self-imposed exile that would last for 13 years. He was Contributing Editor of Radio Deutsche Welle in Cologne, Germany, from 1966 to 1976, and was Africa Editor of National Zeitung, in Basel, Switzerland, becoming Editorial Director of New African magazine in London in 1978. In 1981, he launched a pan-African news magazine called Africa Now. He became Sole Administrator of Daily Times Nigeria Plc in 1996. His “Peter Pan” column that he began writing in 1959 steered feathers among the political big-wigs. Frank Barton in his book, The Press of Africa, described Enahoro as “arguably Africa’s best journalist writing in the English language”.

Recounting his transit into self-exile, Enahoro acknowledged fleeing Nigeria, aged 31 in the 1960s. This was unconnected to the 1966 Civil War. He first returned in 1979 before leaving, again, in 1990. Unfortunately, he will have to be brought back to his beloved country lifeless. But that will, in no way, diminish his status as a leading light in the journalism profession in Nigeria. Without doubt, he ran a good race and will be remembered as one the nation’s very best. Adieu.