There is no doubt that one man who will be the worst hit by Dimgba's death is Mike Awoyinfa, his best friend, soul mate, twin brother of over 32 years. The interview below, which was first published in the Vanguard on June 25th 2011 captures the essence of the kindred spirit, shared by these two foremost media administrators.
Journalism is all about entertainment. In fact, entertainment is the engine of journalism, and that’s why we are embarking on this venture. We have discovered a big market out there we can cash in on. Entertainment Express will be devoted entirely to the reportage of the entertainment industry. Three organisations do this: Sunny Obazu Ojeagbese’s Complete Communications Limited; Ehi Braimah’s Neo Media and Marketing and Macdee Communications.
Working with Mike Awoyinfa
It’s a question of synergy of ideas. If you find somebody that your ideas flow with, it’s easier to work with that person. I don’t look at people in terms of where they come from, but I look at their hearts. If the heart of a man is good, whether he’s an Hausa man, Yoruba
I was struck by Mike’s simplicity, humility and sometimes, I was looking up to him as a veteran, whereas he would come to seek professional advice from me. That’s what brought us together. A point came in our lives when we felt frustrated in terms of our career development.
Then, Mike was promoted to an Assistant Editor, while I was made a Senior Staff Writer at Sunday Concord. At that point, we decided to write a book together to decapitate our frustration into creative process. The book was called “The Art of Feature Writing.” After writing that book, we concluded that we could work together. And since then, we haven’t had any fundamental disagreement in terms of money or any serious issue.
Relieving of our jobs in The Sun Newspapers
We felt disappointed at the manner in which it happened. But recently, we have had cause to reconcile with the publisher. We wouldn’t want to talk about it again.
On the defunct Concord Press
It’s a huge disaster and also a lesson to our entrepreneurs that when they set up a company, they should try as much as possible to create an enduring structure that would outlive the ownership. If that was done effectively in the case of Concord Press, it probably wouldn’t have collapsed. But you would also take political factors like Abacha’s military regime into consideration.
The regime was determined to destroy the organisation. But still, the whole issue about Abiola’s legacy is a tragedy. I advocate that Business Schools should begin to study Abiola’s case because once upon a time, he used to be the biggest corporate mogul in this country, and suddenly, none of his business empires is functioning.
That speaks volume about the need for our entrepreneurs to create a system that will make a business distinct from themselves, so that a business can survive even when the owner is not there. The business should not be tied too closely to the life of the owner. Our newspaper, Entertainment Express will outlive Mike and myself. That’s our dream, and that’s the value system we want to deliver to the people.
My relationship with Dimgba Igwe- Mike Awoyinfa
We met many years ago, at the Sunday Concord newspaper, and ever since then, we have been long standing friends. We discovered we are kindred spirits. Dimgba complements my weaknesses, he adds to my strength.
Only God knows why we came the way we are, even twins are not that close. We lean on each other and celebrate and mourn our woes together. We do everything together and I learn everyday from Dimgba, because he has his own areas where he is stronger than myself. Intellectually and spiritually, he is above me in certain respect. Sometimes, we do disagree to agree again, we know how to tolerate ourselves and we are not the greedy type.
I don’t know why history is always recurring in our lives. There is always a situation, where myself and Dimgba would strive to take an organization to the very heights and at the end of the day , the table is turned against us. May be, that is our destinies. Talking
My only regret today is working for somebody and if I should have my way , I would like to be an entertainer working for myself or partnering with Dimgba Igwe. The formula has been tasted overtime, we can work together as we understand ourselves. I can do business partnership with Dimgba and I will not be disturbed. In our upcoming publication, Entertainment Express, I’m going to take the lead in terms of reporting and I will ensure that I set the standard for my team to follow .
My relationship with Dimgba Igwe
We met many years ago, at the Sunday Concord newspaper, and
Only God knows why we came the way we are, even twins are not that close. We lean on each other and celebrate and mourn our woes together. We do everything together and I learn everyday from Dimgba, because he has his own areas where he is stronger than myself. Intellectually and spiritually, he is above me in certain respect. Sometimes, we do disagree to agree again, we know how to tolerate ourselves and we are not the greedy type.
No comments:
Post a Comment