Why I refused to betray Chief Segun Osoba — Femi Shodunke

Veteran Nigerian-Canadian journalist, Chief Femi Shodunke, has recalled how he rejected an offer to secretly monitor and record Chief Segun Osoba shortly after he left office as Governor of Ogun State.

Shodunke, a one-time Deputy Editor of the Nigerian Compass newspaper, made the revelation while congratulating Osoba on his 87th birthday, saying he chose professional ethics, morality and integrity over money.

According to him, the incident occurred around late 2003 or early 2004, shortly after Osoba left office.

Shodunke said he was driving to Osoba’s residence for a press conference when he received a call asking him to make a detour to the Governor’s office complex for an urgent assignment.

He said the assignment was to place a live call from his MTN phone while at Osoba’s residence so people at the other end could listen to the former governor’s conversations “live and direct.”

He was allegedly offered a credit card worth about N5,000 at the time, as well as an honorarium, to keep his phone functional for the assignment.

Shodunke, however, rejected the offer.

“Emi omo ti won biire” — meaning he was a well-brought-up child — was the principle he said guided his decision.

“I insisted that besides its unethical conduct, it’s immoral and un-Godly for me to engage in such act,” he said.

He added that his mother’s upbringing also influenced him.

“Mama mi o gbodo gbo” — “my mum must not hear of me” — was the philosophy that echoed in his mind, he recalled.

Shodunke said he left the office and proceeded to Osoba’s residence, where he joined his colleagues for the scheduled press conference with his “name, honor, prestige, and integrity intact.”

However, he said another journalist eventually accepted the assignment.

“Sadly someone else (a fellow journalist who has a name to be identified with) did the ‘dirty job,’” he said.

Shodunke stressed that his refusal was not simply because Osoba was his Egba “papa,” fellow “Oluwo” or a revered figure in journalism.

“Indeed, I must say that my refusal to betray you was not because you’re my Egba ‘papa’, fellow ‘Oluwo’ … and our ‘Baba’ in journalism, but I did due to the fact that I cannot be bribed with ephemeral money or material things over such shenanigans.”

He said his decision was rooted in his commitment to journalism ethics.

“Similarly, I declined because of our noble profession of journalism, the immoralness therein and definitely it was an un-Godly act.”

Shodunke said the memory resurfaced after he came across a birthday publication about Osoba on the Penpushing platform and saw a photograph of the former governor with one of the major actors in the episode.

He apologised to Osoba for revisiting the incident but said he considered it important to document what happened.

“Papa Osoba, sorry to disturb you with this historically undeniable facts (as I have witnesses, though one is dead: Toba Suleiman), but the incident flashed back to my memory as you mark your birthday and the photograph(s) that refused to depart my memory, hence my decision to share it here.”

He concluded by congratulating Osoba, whom he described as “an icon in journalism in Nigeria and, by extension, globally.”

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖