Uncle Sam And The Virtue Of Disobedience

Samson Oruru Amuka, CON, everyone’s uncle, is 90 today, and he is celebrating at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre — a departure from his past tendencies to avoid birthday celebrations. For a people whose average life expectancy stands at 62, it is a piece of delightful news that Uncle Sam is officially a nonagenarian, and this time he is not a reluctant celebrator.

Amuka, in the last two decades had made it his official policy to escape the plans of friends to celebrate his birthday, especially his 70^th and 80^th. As soon as he got wind of any planned celebration, Amuka would quietly steal out of town, leaving his friends, admirers, and proteges to their designs.

I recall that on those two landmark birthdays, I was part of the initiative to celebrate him by getting colleagues to put together a book of essays, Voices from Within to reflect on the business of journalism and Amuka’s impact in the media industry and nation-building.

He tried his best to dissuade us from going ahead with it, arguing on one occasion that as a private man it was better to accord him such honour posthumously, and on another that the industry was bleeding and he did not want to come across as being insensitive.

Of course, we disobeyed him and went ahead with our plans, making it a celebration delayed and not cancelled. On July 12, 2005, at the Muson Centre, Onikan and July 30, 2015, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, the media rightly celebrated Amuka for the positive example that he is. Seeing the recurring July celebration, I had wondered in 2015 if in his heart Uncle Sam was not “really a July child,” adding, “after all, his bosom friend, Chief Segun Osoba is a July son. So are his dear sons, Nduka Obaigbena, Channels Television’s CEO, John Momoh, Thisday’s Eniola Bello, even yours sincerely, speaking is a July child. So, we can start planning for his 90^th birthday sometime in July 2025.”

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This year, Uncle Sam is not having any of that. Close friends such as Chief Segun Osoba and his son Nduka Obaigbena have successfully convinced him to embrace a grand celebration. As the oldest practising journalist, Amuka’s career spans roles as a reporter, features writer, columnist, editor, media manager, director, and entrepreneur. Admired for his simplicity, humility, and mentorship, he remains an enduring inspiration and a national treasure, representing the finest qualities of the profession and contributing significantly to the nation’s progress. That is a breath of fresh air in a land where grandstanding is an art and Lilliputians pretend to be giants. We should continue to celebrate the likes of Amuka who epitomise some of our finest qualities. We celebrate his longevity and accomplishments.

As I said ten years ago, “We celebrate him because of our abiding faith that journalism enriches itself when it acknowledges the contributions of its veterans. We celebrate him because our nation is in dire need of heroes who remain positively relevant to nation-building.”

I am happy that the disobedience of 2005 and 2015 has blossomed into a growing culture of appreciation in the media. The publication of Voices from Within in 2005 spurred the media to produce works like Nigerian Columnists and their Art (2011) and Master of His Age: The Story of Anthony Enahoro (2011). The first piece, dedicated to Alade Odunewu, the dean of satirical journalism, examines informed commentary. The second honours Chief Enahoro, the late journalist, politician, and elder statesperson. Other notable works include Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe’s Olusegun Osoba: The Newspaper Years (2012) in honour of Chief Segun Osoba, Wale Adebanwi’s Public Intellectuals, The Public Sphere and The Public Spirit (2014) in honour of Prof. Olatunji Dare, and Chido Onumah and Frederick Adetiba’s Testimony to Courage in honour of Dapo Olorunyomi. Recently, Louis Odion, Mojeed Jamiu, and Ololade Bamidele published Azu: A Book of Tributes devoted to Azu Ishiekwene when he turned 60.

While no book is being presented for Uncle Sam’s 90th birthday, a documentary titled The Essential Uncle Sam is being finalised to honour him.  Nothing is too much for our beloved uncle. At 90, I don’t know what to wish Uncle Sam. Six years ago, when his friend, Chief Osoba turned 80, he told him to prepare to die for he could not receive the type of accolades that greeted his birthday and book launch. Last year, when Osoba reprised the outing of 2019 on a bigger scale, he repeated the advice. But I won’t ask him to do the same. Instead, I take solace in a statement of his at one of those book presentations. “What we did all night, we now stare at it all day.”

Uncle, keep staring. It is healthier. Happy birthday, Uncle Sam.

*Idowu is the chairman of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence Trust Fund.