The SMC newsletter for July 2014

SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION PAN-ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

SMC brief

July 2014

An In house publication of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University

Editor’s Note

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s Heraclitus put it, “Change is the only constant in life.”

While we might all agree with this, we’ll probably differ on how to deal with change. For some, change is an inevitable reality over which we have no control. With this frame of mind, one passively accepts whatever life brings, even though that acceptance is sometimes tinged with frustration and bitterness. As examples, we can point those who see all that happens to them, good or bad, as their ordained destiny and will not lift a finger to try to influence present realities.

Some others hate the whole concept of change and actually go into a denial of it. This is what happens, for example, with persons that fear growing old. In search of an eternal youth, such persons sometimes end up acting in a rather silly fashion. A 60 year old person trying to pass as 25 in both dress and behaviour presents a rather pitiful sight.

Change is inevitable, but how we respond to it is not. And this is shown by a third group of people.

Those in this group not only embrace change but seek to provoke it because they see it as a chance to begin again. Each day, for such individuals, is a chance to start anew, to correct past mistakes, to improve. Of course, some things, in a sense, are bigger than us, and we might not be able to change them; rather, we are the ones that are changed by such realities. But we can always change our attitudes and the way we regard such realities.

T h e S M C i s u n d e rgo i n g momentous change with, first, the forthcoming undergraduate programme and, now, the change of Dean. Prof. Biakolo talks to us in this issue about his years as the pioneer Dean. Change also undergirds our story on Media 75, a project that documents the changes in Nigerian journalism between 1935 and 2010.

Enjoy the issue!

Ikechukwu Obiaya newsletter@smc.edu.ng

Participants at the Media75 Conference

Scholars of Journalism Commend SMC’s Media 75 Research Project

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ournalism scholars at the Media75 Conference have commended the School of Media and C o m m u n i cat i o n ( S M C ) fo r i t s commitment and support for the pioneering research work on 75 Years of Nigerian Media and Journalism. The Media75 Conference, which was organised by the School of Media and Communication, took place in June at the Victoria Island premises of the School.

The conference featured academics from various institutions who met to appraise the research effort towards the publication of the findings. The media project consists of interviews with 75 media players in the Nigerian print and broadcast media. It covers a period spanning 1935 to 2010, and reviews various themes of media leadership and management, circulation/coverage and distribution, readership/viewership/listenership, the changing media landscape, media and military, as well as the efforts of social media and changing demographic patterns.

The conference was chaired by Prof. Adigun Agbaje, a former deputy

vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Prof. Agbaje commended the School of Media and Communication for initiating and supporting the Media75 research. He said it would help to preserve the “institutional and national memory” of the Nigerian media.

Welcoming the scholars, the Vice Chancellor of the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), Prof. Juan Elegido, affirmed the commitment of the university to research and knowledge creation. Prof. Elegido said that PAU believes “you cannot be a proper university without an active research team.” The Vice Chancellor said that PAU strongly supports research because “we especially aspire to be a university whose contributions are relevant to industry and society.”

The Media75 research has been carried out by the Centre for Leadership in Journalism (CLeJ) of the SMC. The director of CLeJ, Mr. Richard Ikiebe, said he was motivated to carry out the research by the need to fill the gaps in the study of Nigerian journalism, given that not much had Continued on page 3

2 SMC BRIEF July 2014

To Survive, Nollywood Must Get Out Of Government Business!

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e need to have a more focused, more responsive, more reactive leadership in Nollywood." This was stated by the popular actor, Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK), while speaking at the July edition of the Filmmakers' Forum of the Nollywood Studies Centre of the School of Media and Communication. The session which was centred on reviewing the actor's years in Nollywood, was titled "From Living in Bondage to Apaye: 22 Years of Plying the Thespian's Trade."

KOK took members of the audience down history lane as he spoke about the development of the industry. In responding to a question on leadership in the Nigerian film industry, he decried the lack of trust and togetherness in the industry today. Looking back to the early days of the industry, he agreed that "there was no leadership, but there was love. People trusted each other then," he said. However, "mistrust crept in, lack of confidence‌ a whole lot of stuff," such that people tend to be more focused on looking for a means of gaining for themselves and not for the industry. He went on to add that collaboration and partnerships are the only way to overcome this, but there needs to be a return to the camaraderie that existed in the early years of the industry.

KOK spoke about those early years and his entry into what were the

beginnings of the industry. "Were we jobless before 1992?" he asked rhetorically. Not at all, he added, explaining that he and the other early entrants into the then budding Nollywood had already spent quite a few years working in television productions such as Ripples and Checkmate.

According to KOK, he began working with the television in 1982. His first role came in 1984 when he appeared on New Masquerade. This was followed by many other opportunities that opened to him during his television years and which he made the most of.

The subsequent move to video film came as a natural transition. The move "was not seen as anything big. It was just in the normal line of things." However, "Living in Bondage opened the vistas of opportunities. Before then, there was nothing to be talked about." He narrated that the selling point, which captured the audience's attention, was to put on screen the kind of story people had always heard about but never seen.

People had always heard of human ritual sacrifices and secret societies, but Living in Bondage was the first time that it was being put on screen in that way. The fact that the language of the film was also in "good Igbo dialect" was an added clincher.

That film, KOK stated, established at that time some of the elements of what a good film set up should be. He went on

to salute the enterprise of the private citizens who got involved financially, without fully understanding the film business. The traders that provided the funds that facilitated film production, he said, should be commended. They were quick to provide the money and showed a lot of trust in the filmmakers. Unfortunately, some of the filmmakers, taking advantage of the trust imposed in them by the traders/producers and their ignorance of filmmaking issues, eventually began to dupe them. This led to the advent of the filmmaking marketer because, to avoid being cheated, they went into filmmaking on their own account.

KOK then spoke about some of the key stages in the growth of Nollywood.

Some of the notable moments he spoke about include the rise of the guilds (as from 1999) and the recess that was declared in the industry in 2002. He also spoke about the problems of creating the structures and sub-structures that the industry requires for its development. He noted, however, that the resolution of such problems lies with the private sector and not with the government. He criticised the excessive dalliance that practitioners of the industry were tending towards with the government. "If Nollywood must survive, it must get out of government business!" What the industry requires from government, he said, is not welfare packages handed out to delegations but access – access to locations, equipment, uniforms, etc., to facilitate shoots.

With reference to the difficulties the filmmaker faces in getting funding from financial institutions, he stressed that, "The industry must be built. It is very important. We need to localise or indigenise the collateral thing for movie making." It is a real challenge, he said, to ask filmmakers to provide collateral in the form of buildings because they do not possess such properties.

The Forum ended with a cocktail during which members of the audience were able to interact on a one-on-one basis with KOK.

3 SMC BRIEF July 2014

The CME 15 Class Goes on Tour

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he participants of the Certificate in Media Enterprise programme (CME 15) have carried out a company visit to the studios of TVC. The visit took place on Wednesday, the 9th of July, 2014. The 9 participants of the class were accompanied by 3 members of staff of the SMC – Ms. Doris Onyejeose of the Marketing Department, Ms. Nse-

Abasi Ndiokho, the programme coordinator and Mr. Emmanuel Paul of the Media unit.

At the TVC studios, located at No 1 Continental Drive off CMD Road, Ketu, Lagos, the group was received by Mr. Celestine Umeibe, Manager, Public Relations. Mr. Umeibe gave the participants a brief history of TVC, the journey so far and the challenges the organisation has faced in trying to run a news station successfully in Nigeria. Ms. Onyejeose then gave a brief introduction of the CME programme to the TVC staff present and explained the essence of the visit in relation to the overall objectives of the programme. Thereafter, the president of the class, Dr. Charles Uzodinma, introduced the other members of the CME class.

The class was then taken on a detailed tour of the facilities and had opportunities to ask many questions about the operations of the news studio. At the end of the tour of the facilities, they all agreed that the visit was an eye opener and that it had been worthwhile.

–- Nse-Abasi Ndiokho

Scholars of Journalism Commend SMC Continued from page 1 Prof. Dayo Alao, the pioneer of mass communication studies at Babcock University and a past editor of Times International, a Daily Times publication, said the work represents a significant contribution to knowledge of the media.

Other participants at the conference were Prof. Lai Oso of Lagos State University, and Dr. Bisi Olawunmi of Bowen University. Also present were Prof.

James Tsaaior, Dr. Isah Momoh and Dr. Josef Bel-Molokwu, all of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, and Chido Nwakanma, President of the Public Relations Consultant Association of Nigeria (PRCAN).

The Media75 research is funded by the Ms. Isabella Akinseye Pan-Atlantic University and the Nigerian Guild of Editors. The fruit of the research will be presented in multimedia format, with print books, audio books, e-books, as well as video and webcast of the interviews.

– Oyindamola Prof. Dayo Alao and Dr. Bisi Olawunmi Olofinlua

been done since the pioneering work of Alfred Omu's Press and Politics in Nigeria.

It became imperative, he added, as many of the pioneers have passed on without sharing their experience and knowhow.

Those featured in the work include S a m A m u ka , Pat r i c k D e l e C o l e , Christopher Kolade, Vincent Maduka, Segun Osoba, Garba Shehu, Tony Momoh, Lade Bonuola, Ray Ekpu, Kevin Ejiofor, Muhammed Haruna, Adamu Ciroma, Doyin Abiola, Areoye Oyebola, Ted Iwere and Laban Namme. It also includes John Momoh, Frank Aigbogun, Femi Kusa, Kabir Yusuf, Idowu Sobowale and Festus Adesanoye.

Dr. Mike Okolo Resumes as Acting Dean, SMC

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r Mike Okolo has been appointed the Acting Dean of the School of Media and Communication (SMC), PanAtlantic University. Dr. Okolo, who joined the Pan-Atlantic, then PanAfrican, University in 2004, has been in SMC from its beginnings in 2006, when he assisted in the establishment of the Centre for Media and Communication. He has been, in different moments, the Director of Professional Education and the Director of Academic Education. He s p e c i a l i s e s i n Organizational/Corporate Communication, Strategic Internal Communication and Communication Audit.

4 SMC BRIEF July 2014

Interview With Prof. Emevwo Biakolo Prof. Emevwo Biakolo, the pioneer dean of the School of Media and Communication, has stepped down after over seven years at the helm of the School. In this interview, he gives an assessment of those years.

What have the last 7 plus years at the helm of SMC meant for you?

This question can be addressed at the personal level but also at the institutional level. Personally, it has been a period of great challenge, but also rewarding learning. At the institutional level, the transformation from a fledgling centre of one director and two half-staff (half because Doris Onyeojeose and Dr Mike Okolo were still at that time PA to the VC and Corporate Affairs Manager of PAU respectively, but were designated by the then VC, Professor Albert Alos, to assist me with some of their time) into a full-fledged School with 38 full time academic and non-academic staff, not to speak of a coterie of adjunct, part-time and contract staff that is closer to 30 than 25, is a phenomenal development.

What have been the particular challenges you have faced?

Getting the right faculty and staff has been the greatest challenge. Then of course, there is the limitation of physical space. We cannot forget the financial difficulties that start-ups of any kind encounter. Also, getting the regulators and the market to understand and subscribe to the innovative programmes we kept developing at SMC was a specific but exciting kind of challenge.

In taking up the position of Dean, you must have had projections of where you wanted the School to get to; in your

assessment, would you say you have attained those goals?

That is a very difficult question to answer because it entails selfassessment. With all modesty I would say we have attained most of the goals we set out to achieve.

Don't forget that there are so many different scoring areas. Our first goal was to begin the Masters degree in the sub-areas of Media Management, and Content Production. This was to be followed by Marketing Communications and Film. Most of these (except the film one) we managed to do. The diploma programmes came in order to assist the different segments of the industry. Some have been a roaring success, e.g. Community Relations, while Journalism and Digital Media have been middling in their results. I feel particularly glad that we managed to get the doctorate programme off the ground, and also got accreditation for the BSc in Mass Communication (though sadly without the options we had hoped for). All this is in academic programmes.

Our professional programmes have not achieved unqualified success. From the Certificate in Media Enterprise and AWAReS, we have since introduced the Certificate in Audio-Visual production that has not done too well. On the other hand, the Market and Social Research Certificate has done very well. The LGMC, Leadership and Governance in Media and Communication, CEO-level programme, actually has great potential if we work at it. Some of the seminars and workshops are quite successful, others are not.

So this division has experienced mixed fortunes. But do not forget that because of our situation as a private institution, we are bound to judge our results as much in terms of financial accruement and subscription numbers as in other respects. But finance and class room figures ought not ideally to be the main criteria for judging the success of learning programmes in the academy.

Whether we have met all these objectives in terms of the envisaged quality is another matter. Some further work still needs to be done in terms of the quality of faculty and staff, as well as of students, particularly in the area of

research. By and large, as a developing project, I would probably be generous and score myself a B or BYou are leaving the position of Dean at an important moment of the development of the School (the start of the undergraduate programme); what are your hopes or expectations for the future of the School?

If we remain on course in terms of our value system, in our quest for holistic perfection, bearing in mind of course that undergraduate programmes are a different kettle of fish and they present quite unique challenges, my expectation is that in another half-decade we would have firmed up our place in the African landscape, nay in the world itself, as a first rate institution in the field of media and communication. But this will happen only if we do not neglect research, if we focus seriously on research. The danger of being totally embroiled in teaching to the detriment of original research is quite real.

What is next for you? Can you let us into your immediate personal plans?

I shall take the next couple of years out to study. I have been interested for a ve r y l o n g t i m e n o w i n fa m i l y communication and family studies. I would like to study, research and do some writing on these matters.

How do you see the future of communication studies and of the industry in Nigeria?

The field is in a flux. The academy is struggling to match conceptually the frequent changes introduced by technology. Many traditional ideas and approaches in the discipline are going out through the window as a result of the technological upheaval. For example, if the diversities of the field are converging through technology, it does not follow that we must all also adopt a unitary passivity in our understanding. I would like to see more reflection on the revolution rather than the current climate, or rather malaise, of being merely swept along with other debris. If we cannot guide or contain the revolution, we must at least understand it and offer prognosis for the future. That is what scholars do; that is our special function in society, to provide thought leadership.