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Gbenga Adefaye is a Nigerian journalist, administrator and media scholar with over 30 years’ experience in the Nigerian media industry. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Vanguard Media (Newspapers) and the Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) with global experience in the media industry.
Also, he was a two-time president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. In this interview with Abiodun Omodara and benedicta Bassey, he speaks on the challenges in the media sector, the recent disbursement of student loans and how mass communication graduates can attain relevance in the industry, among others. Excerpts:
Briefly tell us about your journalism journey.
Well, my name is Gbenga Adefaye, I am a journalist, trained at home, first degree, second degree, all in Nigeria. I attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the University of Lagos. I studied Mass Communication.
I practised journalism all my life; from television, NTA, as I was doing my youth service. I dived into the magazine world, I worked with New Bridge Magazine and then New Globe Magazine, owned by Ikemba Odumeguro Juko, operated from 175 Marine Road, Apapa, Lagos.
Then I joined Vanguard newspapers. I was there for 37 years; I was the longest serving editor for a while, I hope the current guy there will outlast me. I was the Editor of The Vanguard for 10 years; I was also the General Manager/Editor-in-Chief for 15 years before I got drafted here about four years ago on a concurrent assignment. I came here still working for The Vanguard.
So you have stayed here for a while, what can you say about the institution?
It is a great place. It is a great school; a school with a heritage, great brand equity. Don't forget this school was set up by the International Press Institute (IPI) to train skilled manpower for practice in Nigeria. Then you had in the universities, maybe only the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1963, and then the University of Lagos before all the other ones came. So, basically, it was to provide skilled manpower. I think the first Director was an Australian, sent in here by IPI.
So, as a reporter, what was your experience like, and what other beats did you cover in those years?
At the earlier stage, it was a general beat reporter with the television, like what we have here today. So, at that early stage, they didn't say I was just a corps member, they gave me a camera, a cameraman and said, first assignment was to go to Ikubahi, Benin, and cover the execution of armed robbers.
It was a life-changing experience, it was shocking, but that was the reality. So I did that, and I had a good time with him.
I did a lot of features, writing, reporting in magazine; great experience when you do magazine reporting, must be detailed, there must be perspectives. It is more than just a flipping story.
When we worked at Nsukka about Dwegu Njoku in New Globe, even though I was very young, I was in charge of the West African sub-region, and the magazine already didn't last too long.
Then I went to Vanguard newspaper backstage, a production person, I was the sub-editor at inception, grew through the ranks to become the chief sub-editor, then, the editorial training manager, then the first editor of the evening paper, Lagos Mirror, where I had to report and write, and then the editor of Vanguard itself, deputy editor first for seven years, the editor of Vanguard, and the editor in chief. It was a great experience, because being a journalist, being a reporter, you can't wish for a better life, you are meeting new people, you are learning every day, and then if you don't read, if you don't write, then you die. That's the experience.
As a journalist for over three decades, what has the experience been like?
It has been easy. Look, when you practice journalism, it is a very thin line between the practice and training people to practice.
Don't forget, the complaints generally in the industry, there is a gap between the theory and the practice. So, when you come from the field to come and join the training, you are able to bring in a perspective, and may be able to draw attention to those gaps.
So, it's been easier than I thought, because all I have had to do here is to say, can't you do this? Can't you add this? Would this not make you better? Would this not make your students better equipped, and more fulfilling? So, I think that's the advantage, because what I say to them every day here is, these students must be trained to be entrepreneurs.
They must be trained to have the capacity to go into the field and face the world. In fact, they should be trained in such a way that they don't leave here and begin to do applications. Instead, by the time they leave here, they must have the confidence to show content that they have produced as our students, and employers will be the ones saying, come and do this for me.
How would you rate Nigerian journalists in comparison to foreign journalists?
Well, I never worked with foreign journalists. Even though I did a 10-day internship; a two-week internship at The Observer in London, at the very early stage of my editorship, it would be unfair to rate foreign journalists.
But I think Nigerian journalists will compete very well anywhere in the world. We have been great people. We get to meet and interact with foreign journalists at the international seminars, conferences, and all of that.
And here in Nigeria, we have very great, outstanding journalists. Don't forget some of our journalists; they have also headed some of the famous groups, journalism groups around the world. Our famous group used to be the West African Journalist Association (WAJA) where a Nigerian headed for two terms, and all of that.
We had a Nigerian journalist that also won the Pulitzer Prize, so you can't push Nigerian journalists aside.
Recently, the federal government just released a student loan scheme that is accessible for all universities. Is NIJ part of that scheme?
Oh, no, not yet. And we hope that will change. It's not just NIJ. The student loan scheme, the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), as it's called, is for now restricted to students in public universities, in public colleges of education, polytechnics and monotechnics.
All the private schools are not beneficiaries yet. But we hope that will change, because that money that is being used is from all the parents, including all of us whose children are in private schools. And the loan, if it is meant to advance education, to make sure that nobody drops out of school, should not be discriminatory, especially as it is a loan, and people are going to pay back, and also because of the fact that many students who go to private schools go there just because they can't find spaces in public schools.
So, the federal government is licensing more private universities, more private polytechnics, and colleges of education. That means they are trying to create access for more students so that they will not be out of school.
They should also not be discrimination in the loans that are being developed to assist people to acquire education. If you go to any of our schools today, practically every student needs a loan.
To be honest with you, I've been to several universities. The students studied outside here. I've been on the governing council of a university.
And I know that the students are really going through tough times. Every student needs the money. Look at the cost of living, look at the cost of books, look at technological needs, access to ICT, access to literature, to online services, and all of that.
Every student needs it. So the question of whether some people need it or not does not arise in my view. The loan should be made available for as many people as may declare that they need it.
It is not for people, the providers, to say, you need it, you don't need it. Because it is that same thinking that makes them to make it discriminatory on the assumption that people who can afford to send their children to private schools, have enough resources to educate their children. It is not true.
Some of the students that come to other places go there because it is just too tight to gain admission into the public schools.
Following the history of the Federal Government Student Loan, do you think after getting this loan, the parents or the student will be willing to pay back? If yes, what measures are in place for recovery of the loans?
It is not the parents that are supposed to repay the loans. If you look at the principles and the way it's been processed, it is the beneficiaries that will repay the loans after two years of graduation, after they start working.
So, first of all, it is not a burden on the parents. It is supposed to be a relief to the parents, whose children benefit from the loans. Now, as to whether the loans can be recovered, I believe this one will be recovered.
Because, I attended a few workshops and seminars on this loan, before its commencement, the way they go about it, you are not likely to be able to escape repayment. But the first demand is that you submit your name, number and BVN.
So once they have those two, it means wherever you go, you can be found. So, unless they do not want to collect the money back, with your BVN and your name, they can track the transactions in and out of your account.
Through the CBN, through your bank, they will know whether you have accepted any money, whether it has reflected in your account or not. So, unless they don't want to recover it, with those two things, wherever you are, the loan can be recovered.
On this student loan, do you think there will be continuity after this present administration?
I believe so. And it will be in the interest of anybody in government to continue it. Look, yesterday or the day before, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe was full of praises for the government because among the first set of people from the University of Zimbabwe, they brought more than N200 million into the university because the government will pay directly to the university. That is another source of cheap funding for the schools that are cash-strapped.
So, as many of the students gain access to the loan, much funds will be available to run the universities.
So, being in the education space for a while, how would you rate the performance of education in Nigeria?
Well, a lot of improvement needs to be done for relevance. It is not sufficient to just take a degree. It is what to do with it, especially with advancement in technology, especially with the coming of AI. If you are not doing application of knowledge, you probably will be jobless. So, yes, it is more than for literacy now. It is for competence and the requisite skill to go into the world and make a difference. See, what you are doing now, in those days, I saw the lapel that was pinned on my jacket here and the small thing that is in my jacket.
In those days, you carry one massive camera. About four or five people would be carrying some massive lights. What you are showing here with this gadget is skill.
This has nothing to do with theory. So it is to make knowledge more practical, more relevant to the need of the people who have acquired education and the need and growth of a larger society.
So what advice do you have for mass communication graduates and how can the government come in, in terms of improving the institution?
For mass communication graduates to be practitioners of the craft, they have to be abreast of developments in the industry.
To know that nothing waits for anyone. They have to read wide. To know what is happening everywhere. Keep adapting to the changes in society. Otherwise, they will be jobless. Mass communication must be for effect, and for a purpose. They must know that. So you learn the theory. You must master the practice.
As for the government, they should just improve the general environment. This is not a government school. It's not a government-funded school. But there should be a government policy that should make going to schools like this more attractive. Because, like I said, this is a school with a heritage, a dual heritage of academic excellence and practice. There are people who already have PhDs from universities.
There are people who are already general managers or editors-in-chief of publications who come here to hone their skills and for professional certification and validation. So, schools like this should be treated at that level and get all the necessary support that is available.
Talking about the readiness to read and do more research, do you think AI can help or influence student research performance?
AI will only function to the extent of the background knowledge that you have yourself.
It depends on how you phrase the request you make to AI. So, if you do not have the right command, you will not benefit from AI. What that means, therefore, is that you must develop your own skill to use AI.
I use AI a lot. Based on my background information, do quick checks. But AI will not do my scripts for me. AI will not do the thinking for me. If you are lazy, AI will make you look foolish and stupid. Therefore, AI is good, it's welcome, but people must know the limitations of AI.
AI is not human intelligence. It is artificial intelligence. Do you think the students of today are really doing the necessary things that are needed to aid their education? They should be encouraged to read.
That's why we are speaking to AI now. If you don't read, if you don't seek knowledge, AI will not be the substitute. So, they must come down and be prepared to learn the basics.
The fundamentals are still the same. The principles are generally the same. If you don't understand and learn them, applying AI will not help you.
While the teachers teach, students must learn. And that is why in NIJ here, the authority insists on 70% attendance at classes. It's for a purpose. Because we know, we appreciate quite well that you can do all sorts of things to pass exams.
Every student must submit to the discipline of learning for the period under studies. You must attend classes. You read your books. Life will be blissful thereafter. You can use your AI because you already have the foundation.
So, with the advancement of technology, for example, look at our libraries, most of the books we have there cannot withstand what we are getting now in terms of the mass communication practice, so what should institutions do to close such a gap?
Well, it is not absolutely true that all the books are obsolete. When I came here four years ago, I still went back to my library in my house because I was coming to a school.
And one of the first books I took out of the place was Interpretative Reporting by MacDougall. I bought that book in 1980 at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. It is still as relevant as it was yesterday.
Strong and White, Elements of Style, is still one of the best books teaching you about the style of writing. Yes, you need to have current books, updated books, but some of those ideas are not as obsolete as people project them.
In fact, the question you asked is how many of these new books are these super modern? I agree with you there should be up-to-date books, foreign and local. You also need local authors because you need knowledge to also be domesticated. But the principle is no knowledge is lost. I have a very good personal library.
I still look at some of the books I used in the university in 1980. So they are still as wonderful as they are. I tell people one of the best books on teaching English language is this interpretative reporting by MacDougall.
I'm still looking for a substitute for it. The Appendix is like dubbing elements of style strong and white. The question you asked is how many of our students still consult their dictionary for style, for spelling, for diction? How many? So it is the use of literature, the use of books, really we should be talking about.
The books, I mean the ones that are there, how many of them are read by the students? The notes that are given by the lecturers, how many of them are read? One of the biggest frustrations of some of your lecturers is students not doing their assignments properly. Yes, you need modern books. Yes, you need e-library, but more importantly is the use to which we put the books that we have in the library.
How can we encourage more lecturers to write books based on the exposure they have got so far?
Lecturers are writing books now.
What more can the government do to encourage them?
Make books tax-free in terms of tariffs. The materials for producing books i.e core books and educational materials should be made tariff-free, tax-free, so that it is cheaper to produce books.
