Dr. Femi Orebe as 'Simply A Citizen Journalist' (1)
By Segun Ayobola Two impressions come to mind as regards the title of Dr Femi Orebe ‘s collection of his newspaper columns spanning over two and a half decades between
By Segun Ayobola
Two impressions come to mind as regards the title of Dr Femi Orebe 's collection of his newspaper columns spanning over two and a half decades between 2006 and 2025- 'Simply A Citizen Journalist'. First, there is the author's disarming modesty and amazing humility. For, in his eight decades of eventful existence on planet earth, which the book was compiled and published to commemorate, Dr Orebe is far more than just simply 'a citizen journalist'. An exemplary product of such esteemed educational institutions as Christ's School, Ado-Ekiti, and the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), the profound thinker and prolific writer is as cerebral as they come.
He graduated as the student with the best result in his department, History, at the OAU. Of course, it is well known that History is not a discipline in which it is easy to narrowly miss obtaining a first class, as the author did, having recorded 6 A's and a B+ out of seven subjects in the Bachelor of Arts finals examination. In a most interesting Foreword to the book, the author's teacher, Professor Richard Adeboye Olaniyan, cites Femi Orebe's answer, in his final examination, to a question on Belgian independence to illustrate the student's uncommon academic ability.
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According to him, "Our admiration of Femi Orebe's intellectual deftness was not so much in the simplicity and logic of the explanation but in the courage and sophistication, the surprising sagacity, and the creative intelligence he demonstrated". The external examiner for the final examination, the distinguished Professor J.D. Hargreaves of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, readily agreed with the score of "A" scored by the candidate in the paper.
The second impression is the serious dedication, seriousness and commitment with which Dr Orebe took his vocation as a public intellectual who consistently participated in public discourse in the print and electronic media at various times over a period of at least four decades. In the second Foreword, the respected Ambassador Dapo Fafowora, himself a distinguished academic and long-running newspaper columnist, notes of the author that "As a newspaper columnist, he has fought against public corruption, tribalism and religious bigotry in our country. For those who enjoy reading good essays on great public issues in our country on economics, politics and history, I have no hesitation in recommending his publication to the public from a writer and journalist whose views and judgements have been consistently sound".
The respected historian and diplomat states further that Orebe "has obviously had a varied public career, but he will always be better remembered as one of our best newspaper columnists ever". The diligence and passion with which Dr Orebe approaches the arduous task of the high-minded newspaper columnist is revealed in his acknowledgement of the toll his incessant writing took on his family, particularly because of the demand on his time. In his words, "...writing these articles, starting Wednesdays to Fridays, meant I barely had time for my wife and children. Preparing for these articles meant you are not only permanently observing what's going on around you, but you must be on television to catch up with the likes of CNN and BBC to be on top of events around the world".
It was former President Barack Obama of the US who reportedly famously declared that "...for all our outward differences, we in fact all share the same proud type, the most important office in this democracy is the citizen, the ordinary person who says, no, that's not right". And much earlier, in his farewell address at the end of his tenure, President Jimmy Carter affirmed that "...the only title in our democracy superior to that of President, the title of citizen." Expatriating on this notion, an online analysis states that "While many presidents and politicians have praised civic duty, President Obama specifically used this phrasing in his post-presidency to argue that the health of American democracy depends on the engagement of its citizens rather than just its leaders.”
In his role as a citizen Journalist, Dr Orebe is an embodiment of the recognition of the critical responsibilities of the privilege of occupying the office of citizen. In a democracy, the citizen not only participates in electing those who take authoritative, binding decisions for the polity, he is also to take advantage of such rights as the freedom of thought and speech to contribute to public discourse and the shaping of public policy. Closely related to this is Aristotle's description of man as essentially a "political animal". This conveys the thought that man can only be truly human as he lives, moves and has his being in a collective human society.
Man is not designed for solitary existence, and a Robinson Crusoe marooned on an island has his human essence devalued. For the great Greek thinkers, the man who takes no interest in participating in and contributing to the collectivity that defines his humanity descends to the level of the beast.
The passion of column writing, especially from one like Dr Orebe who does not earn his living through the practice of journalism, is a demonstration of the highest consciousness of the burden and responsibility of citizenship. In Section one of this tome of over 600 pages, themed 'Reminiscences', the author gives us insights into his education, public career and intriguing trajectory of his practice of the art of columnism.
In his 2014 book titled, 'We are all Journalists Now', the journalist, author, former Minister and now presidential aide to President Bola Tinubu, Dr Sunday Dare, interrogated the emergent phenomenon of social media and the opportunity it affords everyone with a mobile device and data to become instant creators, purveyors and interpreters of information at the touch of a button. Social media has been widely criticized for devaluing, even jettisoning professional ethics, as everyone can contribute to the most specialised and complex of issues without the slightest iota of expertise. The democratization of the media space and equalization of opportunities to participate in public discourse, though deepening the Democratic terrain, has also bred a feral jungle of public discourse in which thought is devalued, public commentary trivialized and outright falsehood peddled with impunity.
But in the articles collected in this book, Dr Orebe offers an inspiring example of how the art of citizen journalism should be practised. One reason for this, as we have noted, is that he has a sound educational grounding. He brings to the art rigorous logic and a scrupulous fidelity to facts, while he is fearless in voicing his opinion, no matter whose ox is gored. He is unapologetic in his fierce commitment to the progressive principles of democracy, welfarism and federalism while always staying within the bounds of civility and decorum, no matter how passionate his views or robust his contestations.
Indeed, one thing that struck me as I read the opening sections of the book is that, despite his exemplary academic performance, he was guided by the likes of the Vice-Chancellor of OAU at the time, the renowned Professor Hezekiah Oluwasanmi, to pursue a career in University administration rather than choose a scholastic pursuit. He subsequently played key roles in helping to provide brilliant administrative leadership at the OAU, University of Ibadan and the University of Ilorin. It was obviously realised at the time that brilliant, meticulous, diligent and committed administrators were as important to nurturing and sustaining successful and productive universities as cerebral and accomplished scholars.
•To be concluded
