BORN INTO JOURNALISM

 In fact, people looked down on journalists and saw them generally as school dropouts. However, there were some among veteran journalists in the country who were not university graduates but had demonstrated exemplary brilliance and courage as journalists. It was not until the early 1970s, or so that university graduates were recruited into the journalism profession in Nigeria as editors, columnists, feature writers, and so on. Therefore, I entered the profession as a young boy. I had just left secondary school and was only 18! Because of my age, I could only be hired as a cub reporter. xv I had no previous training in anything else, and I was not a university graduate. All I had was a modest West African School Certificate. It meant that I had to be trained on the job as an apprentice, as it was the tradition in those days. Any prospect of my doing well and progressing in the profession depended largely on how serious, dedicated and determined I was to learn the rudiments of reporting and be patient to grow and excel in the profession. I threw myself into it anyhow.