by Suraj Oyewale

Then, I could discuss pre-independence and first republic politics with precision, from the London conference to the Operation Wetie crisis.  I savoured those moments.

I started reading newspapers at a very tender age, probably before hitting 10. And I’m not talking about looking at cartoons or joining those crossword puzzles. Trekking, sometimes bare-footed, on the streets of Offa, Kwara state, where I grew up, then, I was fond of picking almost every piece of newspaper parts I found on my pathway, some dripping in akara oil. I was just an addict.

I recall vividly two occasions. One, one day in 1995, in first year in secondary school, during the one hour break between the close of regular classes (2pm) and the resumption for evening prep (3pm), I accompanied one of my friends and classmates, Felix Olusola Ishola, to his house that was not too far from our school. I saw a load of old newspapers in their house. His father was obviously a newspaper person too, one of the men of their generation that liked to keep records. I was so engrossed in reading those newspapers that my friend’s father had to ask whether I knew those newspapers were stale newspapers of about 10 years old then. They were the 1984/85 editions of The Herald Newspaper, the defunct publication of the Kwara State Government that was reputed to be one of the most popular newspapers of the era, once edited by no less a media guru like Segun Osoba, who would later go on to become a politician and two-time governor of Ogun state, and now an APC chieftain, the wrangling with the incumbent man in the state’s government house notwithstanding.

I told Felix’s father that I knew they were old papers, but I didn’t care. I just loved reading newspapers – whether it was the day’s edition or a 1960 edition. One of the news that stuck from my reading of those 1984/85 editions of Herald in 1995 was the launching of Kwara State Industrial Development Fund. I read that two prominent indigenes of Kwara state, Chiefs Samuel Adedoyin and Emmanuel Adesoye, Chairman and Chief launcher respectively at the launching, donated N155,000 and N160,000 respectively. Those were big monies in 1985. The fund raising was done across all the then 19 states in Nigeria. I also read how the newspapers screamed about the N1 million donated by Chief Gabriel Igbinedion at the Bendel State edition, which I think was equaled or surpassed only by Bashorun MKO Abiola for Ogun state.

The second occurrence I won’t forget on my addiction to newspapers at a tender age was the day, in 1997 at JSS3, our old man caught me in newspapers stand reading papers when I was supposed to be in school. I had run away from school and used my N5 daily pocket money to pay to read 4 newspapers at a vendor’s stand in Offa. Of course, I was shouted back to school. Actually, I started using my money to buy newspapers from secondary school.

It somehow paid off. I was the Current Affairs champion throughout my years in primary school, sometimes scoring as much as 100% in the subject. With the names of all IBB ministers, all governors, all Kwara and some other states’ commissioners in my head then, I dazzled my classmates. Today I don’t think I can list 10 GEJ’s ministers without consulting Google. Well, maybe more things occupy my head now, because I still follow the news.

It was not only in Current Affairs that I mesmerized my friends and classmates with such precocity, I was perhaps more knowledgeable in Nigeria’s political history then. I knew all Kwara state governors from 1967 till then (1994) and their years from the top of my head. The last time I tried listing that without consulting Google, I struggled. Then, I could discuss pre-independence and first republic politics with precision, from the London conference to the Operation Wetie crisis.  I savoured those moments.

Even when hard copies of newspapers became not so fashionable again, at least economically speaking, I was one of the last people to join the wagon. I love it hard! As recently as 2012, I still bought 4 newspapers everyday. I would later switch to online edition and buy only on Sundays, to read either or both of Simon Kolawole (THISDAY) or Tunde Fagbenle (Punch), two columnists whose columns complete my Sunday.

Now, what part of newspapers is my favourite? I was so disinterested in sports that, years ago, anytime the paper I was reading got close to the backpages, I became sad – the news I loved were about finishing. I was not a fan of international politics and sports so I skipped those pages. As I grew older I would later become a sports buff, and in fact, today I start a newspaper from the sports pages.

Yet, sports pages have not displaced my favourite part of a newspaper – column. In the last 15 years I have followed almost all the major columnists in Nigeria. Next week by God’s grace, I will be analyzing the analysts by doing psychoanalysis of Nigeria’s top columnists. Who is the master in the use of English? Who writes only for political correctness? See you next week Tuesday.

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Suraj Oyewale is chartered accountant, blogger and public analyst, is the Founder of JarusHub Career & Management Portal. He tweets from @mcjarus

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.