Mr Sam Amuka Pemu, Chairman and Founder of Vanguard Newspapers – he has been Uncle Sam to me for the better part of five decades – celebrates another birthday today. His 91st year on this mother earth. The day I gather, would be just another day – that is if he doesn’t get his way to leave town. Which would be typical of him. Yet, there are many things to celebrate about this unique man whose mentorship has shaped my professional and even personal life.
I could celebrate his integrity; his simplicity. I could write a book on his unmatched generosity. I could of course celebrate his enduring years as a journalist – longer than any that I know. And the fact that those years have not been tainted by any scandal whatsoever. I could talk about his zest for life and the courage to keep going despite many challenges, including the challenge of aging. But what I have always admired – and celebrated – is his uncanny ability to treat fame and power as the impostors that they are. As Editor and later Publisher of powerful newspapers, he has been dinning with ‘Kings’ and ‘Royalties’ for years. Yet, he has never lost the common touch. He in fact, prefers to dine with friends even when they are commoners. Which partly explains this recent lunch with me.
It started with a phone call. ‘Where is Jimi?’ he asked. I told him Jimi Disu should be ok judging from his daily radio programs and the fact that I had spoken to him the previous week. ‘I still don’t know his place’ he said. (Jimi Disu, who is a lot more private than his exuberant, on-air personality portrays, moved into a new home last year to which very few people have been invited). ‘How can I have a son and I don’t know where he lives?’ Uncle Sam continued. Ordinarily, what transpires between a ‘father and his son’ shouldn’t concern me but behind Uncle Sam’s seemingly impulsive and cryptic remarks often lies a careful, if not sensitive thought process.
I knew he wanted me involved. So, I promised to call Jimi and set things in motion. The issue for an elated Jimi was not ‘if’ but ‘when’. That Uncle Sam was prepared to leave his comfort zone to visit a former employee – even if a favored one – in an era that people seek to identify only with the rich and powerful, says a lot about him. We settled for the very next Sunday because of traffic. Sundays are not usually free for me but I would drop almost anything for the pleasure of spending time with Uncle Sam. And time together, at 91, is what we know we don’t have too much of anymore.
Time on this occasion, passed quickly as we knew it would, and soon, it was sunset and time to go. One thing that lingered after our lunch conversations which cut across many topics, was his concern for the people and the seeming indifference of leadership towards their plight – again, that is typical of him; this common touch and a connection with people which made him such a remarkable journalist. He lamented the disconnect between leadership and the led. Can’t they see that people are suffering? He asked more than once. Yet, we are in the season when so called leaders are jostling for power and relevance and are willing to pay any price for them.
Thoughts of fame, power and the price people actually pay as opposed to what they are willing to pay surprisingly came to the fore a few days before my lunch date with Uncle Sam. My niece Kemi, had arranged a private viewing of Michael Jackson film to celebrate her dad’s 82nd birthday. The choice of MJ (Michael Jackson) was not as random as it seems. Apart from being the film of the moment grossing over 900 million dollars worldwide, MJ had a special place in their home growing up.
The last child, now an accomplished Photographer and film Producer, literally dropped everything at the sound of MJ as a kid. So that viewing evoked four- decade old memories in the family. But it evoked more than old memories for me. In the film, I saw a child who was exceptionally talented. I saw envy and parental abuse. I saw a grown man who sought solace and affection in toys and animals. I saw an insecure man who poured everything he had into his trade in his search for public fame and acceptance if not affection.
That included changing the way he looked. I saw a perfectionist who worried about every tiny dot. I saw discipline. I saw devotion. I saw ambition. Over all, I saw an individual who was prepared to pay whatever price there was to be the best. Yes, he became the best as the film showed. But at what price? Because I also saw an adult who never had a proper childhood. A growing child who experienced more of competitiveness at home than filial love. An adolescent who didn’t have the time to learn about roller-coaster relationships with the opposite sex. I saw a man who didn’t like drugs but had to spend the rest of his latter life depending on drugs because of a freak accident on stage. I saw how to be a star and yet be lonely.
I don’t know what others saw, but I saw a man who paid a stiff price for fame and affection. The kind of price many so called successful figures pay that drives them to depression and even suicide. Incidentally, Marilyn Monroe, the famous performer and sex goddess who purportedly lived a life of glamor – until she took her own life- would have been 100 last week had she lived long enough. I wonder what price our people in public space – elite athletes, entertainers, politicians -are paying for the fame and power the rest of us envy? I saw a clip of President Tinubu when he newly assumed power three years ago. Gosh! The man has aged so much in three years in office. Three years in which he gets the blame for everything that is wrong while hardly getting any credit for the positive things he has done. Yet, he is angling to go for another four years. I pray he doesn’t pay the ultimate price for power and fame.
