I can’t exactly remember when myself and Nats Onoja Agbo became friends but what I can recall is that, before I became a journalist in the twilight of the 80s, Nats was already a household name in journalism practice in Benue State, having risen to become the editor of The Voice at a very young age.
The voice published by the Benue State government was, at the time, populated by a crop of very resourceful and enterprising reporters and brilliant writers among whom were Tor Uja , Bala Dan Abu, Hinga Biem, late Simon Amase, Joe Nwachukwu, Sebastian Agbinda, Ochapa Ogenyi with whom I had a very personal relationship. Very often I would walk over to The Voice to visit Ochapa from Padopads Harmony Secondary School where I taught English (Language) immediately I left the university. Very often, I contributed write-ups which were published in The Voice under Mr. Ogenyi’s purview as the Features Editor. Some of the other contemporaries of Nats at The Voice whom we shared camaraderie included the effervescent late Chris Aba who had made his name as a crack reporter with the Jos based Nigerian Standard, late Genger Tange and, of course, David Agu, whom I later worked with at The Voice. Most of these people with whom Nats worked as colleagues were graduates of Mass Communications from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka or the University of Lagos, the two Nigerian universities that were the pioneers in running a Department of Mass Communications along with two or so polytechnics: The Polytechnic, Ibadan and its counterpart in Enugu and Minna.
But the products of these schools met their match in Nats, a graduate of History from the University of Nsukka. He was a great prose architect and meticulous reporter which he was later to prove when he left The Voice in unpleasant circumstances and joined Newswatch magazine.
Nats was a very determined and focused person and would spare nothing to get at his target, no matter what it took. He was unassuming and never really bothered about what people said or thought of the choices he made in his life so long as he was convinced that he’s taken the best decision. This is why when he decided to leave The Voice to join the Newswatch which was the flagship of magazine journalism in Nigerian at that time, he quietly ignored the lots of flakes from his friends, admirers and associates for accepting the very bottom entry point even after having been an editor of a respected though provincial newspaper. But Nats soon proved his critics wrong as his output and quality soon showed and before the magazine went dead, the late Nats became one of its shining stars from churning out cover stories upon cover stories. He became an award winning journalist with the Newswatch and was celebrated nationally. It is, therefore, not surprising that, after Newswatch folded up, Nats went in to book publishing.
I became very close with the late Nats when I was appointed the Director of Press to the then Military Administrator of Benue State, Group Captain Joshua Obademi, (rtd) in December, 1993. Nats made it a point of duty to cover every major programme that the state organized and he used that opportunity to get patronage from the state for his media establishment. I remember vividly when he succeeded in dragging the military administration to visit the Newswatch and interact with its topmost management team led by the veteran Ray Ekpu in 1994. And since then, Nats and myself became very close, calling each other very often, with him making it a point of duty to call me and sometimes visit the house whenever he had cause to be in Benue. I remember very well in 2014 when I aspired to be the governor of Benue state, Nats gave me his full support but with a proviso that he had two governorship aspirants in myself and Hinga Biem. He would always say that, with any of us as governor of Benue State, it was bound to be the moment of reckoning in terms of moving the state forward. I don’t know how he was able to balance his support for me and Biem but he was not conflicted. Till his demise, he related with the two of us in equal measure.
“Okpani koocho, Emichi ehe” was the jovial way we greeted each other whenever we met. How we got this alias will be left for another day if I will ever have another opportunity to tell the story! I missed Nats’ call sometime in May but I returned the call and behold his voice came on line. It was not very sharp but I thought maybe he was just tired and resting. Little did I know that my dear Nats was already very ill. I dashed to see him at his friend’s house where he normally stayed whenever he visited Makurdi. I was downcast immediately I sighted Nats. Our greeting was not as sharp as it used to be, the sickness had already sucked much of his energy. I was shocked and I asked what was wrong with him. He tried to explain. There, I also met his wife whom I was meeting for the first time, his elder sister and an uncle who all came to see him from the village. Nats was no longer the convivial and jovial persona that he has been well known to be. The strength in him had been sapped by the debilitating affliction that had plagued his body. And then the worst happened!
On this faithful Thursday afternoon, I was in my office attending to some of my students when my phone beeped and it was a call from Adagbo Onoja, a common friend of ours. After the usual pleasantries, he asked if I have heard the news and I asked him which news? He told me that he too was still not sure, not wanting to be labeled as the person spreading the sad news of what he had heard: that Nats has just passed on a few hours ago” I expressed shock but with a promise to make some few calls to confirm the veracity of the “rumour” and get back to him. I summoned courage and called Nats number but there was no answer. After a little while, his wife called and what was the answer after the usual phone courtesies: it was that “your friend passed on this morning. He couldn’t make it. The doctor said it was cancer!” I offered a few consoling words, not really knowing what to say to her at that point and I hung up after bidding her goodbye.
It’s quite sad that we have lost a friend, and the journalism profession has lost one of its most resourceful hands, a prose stylist of note. It’s even worse for the Benue media community that, all its brightest ones are departing this world in droves. In the last few years , we’ve lost the veteran Chief David Attah. Chris Abah went many year ago. Hyacinth Ede, Julius Achin, Genger Tange, Achinge Gyuse ,a goal getter of a photo journalist with The Voice and many others to the cold hands of death. It’s been a harvest of deaths. While I join other colleagues to mourn the late Nats, I am, however, consoled in the fact that he did not make mistake when he chose the journalism profession, given the huge success he made of it. He may have died without a huge bank balance or mansions spread all over the place, Nats has left behind an indelible name as a journalist who came, saw and conquered.
As we address him “Okpani ko’ cho” for the last time, may the good Lord receive his soul in His warm embrace with mercy till we meet never to part again. Adieu!
Dr. Nyitse, a former Secretary to the Benue State Government teaches Mass Communications @ Bingham University, Abuja
