I’ve long struggled with this confession and may even be willing to offer penance and an act of contrition. Of all our revered bosses at Newswatch magazine, where I had a stint as I scaled up in my journalistic career, Daniel Ochima Agbese (more popularly called Dan Agbese), was my favourite.
A deft master of the journalistic craft, he was a highly dutiful, engaging and rigorous editor who had the knack of running reporters through a mill. His eagle eyes would hardly miss a tired phrase, cliche, inappropriate words or poorly cobbled paragraphs.
He never spared reporters who were fond of merely listing events without proper connection to story lines. He made good copies out of every scripts and was never given to passing scripts out of base emotions.
He was nicknamed the “butcher” for his ability to shred long and winding stories riddled with unwanted and loose words and tired phrases. This is underscored by his rich experience and training at the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (1970 to 1973) and Thomson Foundation, Cardiff, United Kingdom (1976). He also took a Masters in Journalism from the prestigious Columbia University, New York, United States of America (1976 to 1977).
He honed his skills holding forte as chief sub-editor, The Nigerian Standard, Jos, 1974-1976; assistant editor, The Nigerian Standard, 1978-1980 and Editor, the New Nigerian. He was later appointed General Manager, Radio Benue.
A renowned wordsmith, Dan often frowned at grandiloquence or words that unnecessarily fills the mouth. He had an inkling for ensuring that the different paragraphs are neatly aligned in a symmetry that elicits beautiful reading.
“Is there a link between the first and second paragraphs?”, he would reel in verbal queries but in warm embrace to keep the reporters on their paces. He was indeed an apostle of tight writing. Each time you received words that your scripts had passed his eagle eyes to the production unit, you reached for a cold bottle of beer or simply savoured the usual “ Happy Hour” with relish.
It was he that gave me the sobriquet, “What are the people saying”? because he had a perceived haunch I might have been substituting my personal thoughts for that of the people each time I prefixed my contributions at editorial meetings with, “people are saying”.
I’m sure everyone knew I had no such insipid reputation or predilection for passing on fictional characters as interviewees in my stories or what had become popularised by some as Nyankperising.
Former Newswatch General Editor, Godwin Agbroko, who thought the names of places and persons in the then Gongola State (today’s Adamawa and Taraba States) were sounding Chinese, came back from a visit to Jalingo to say he could now relate to my stories. I was not alone. My colleague and close friend, Mike Akpan (who’s now late) was often not paid gladly for always signing off his stories with, “He may be right”. Another colleague, Sam Olukoya, who wrote reports on Shina Rambo was also nicknamed, “Sam Poa Poa”, mimicking the sound of the notorious armed robber’s weapon of trade — the gun.
Dan, former Newswatch Editor-in-Chief, who took his final bow recently and I were converts to two opposing sides of the ideological spectrum. Dan, an apostle of Kant philosophy, was a little to the right in terms of ideological bent and journalistic praxis and shied away from shouting and sensational headlines. He would be the last to be enlisted in a revolutionary band but he still caught my fancy.
For me, journalism as an element of the superstructure that merely reinforces the basis of society in a dialection, provided an opportunity to expand the revolutionary frontiers of our protracted struggles for better Nigeria.
Little wonder Dan threw specks at “guerrilla journalism” popularised by the Editors at TheNEWS and TELL magazines to evade and check the draconian rule of the Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha military juntas which he dismissed as “propaganda”.
But the editors of these publications simply refused to surrender in the face of the onslaught and asphyxiation of the media by these ensuing dictatorial military regimes.
As Babafemi Ojudu, one of the founders of TheNEWS magazine puts it: “Those of us who practised it did so because:
• newsrooms were being sealed, bombed, or proscribed;
• editors and reporters were disappearing into detention;
• publications were banned;
• truth had become an endangered species;
• and the military government had arrogated to itself the sole right to define reality”.
Long after I had taken a walk from Newswatch, I often visited and spent hours in Dan’s office sharing ideas from his rich intellectual prowess. I also cherished every opportunity at physical meeting at other fora like gold.
I recall the Communication Conference organised in 2011 in Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Government when Ibim Seminitari held forte as Information Commissioner. Dan and another Newswatch alumnus, Sam Omatseye, now The Nation’s editorial board chairman, were major anchor persons while I attended with one of my sons.
The 2013 burial of Dele Giwa’s mum, Madam Elekhia Aishat Giwa in Ugbeke Ekperi, Edo State, graced by all Newswatch’s chiefs — Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed, Soji Akinrinade and Kayode Soyinka — was a mini reunion. Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, and Dele Giwa’s widow, Funmi. were also at the event. Between the long wait for the commencement of the funeral service at the church and the internment beside Giwa’s grave at the cemetery, we all exchanged banters.
At the 2014 All Nigerian Editors Conference held in Katsina where the Newswatch’s fat cats — Ekpu, Mohammed and Dan — were also present, It was great fun. Incidentally, it was my last encounter with former the Deputy Editor in Chief of The Sun, Dimgba Igwe who sat within hair’s breath and passed on shortly after.
I do not wish to comment on the raging ownership dispute of Newswatch magazine, which has pitched its founding editors and business man, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim at daggers drawn in court. But, how these egg heads editors were goaded to sign off their controlling shares or what was seen as their patrimony by Ibrahim, now an Ambassador-designate remains intriguing.
Dan and I regularly exchanged long calls and sometimes talked 19 to the dozen. We shared concerns on the fate of the Nigerian media industry against the backdrop of social media and artificial intelligence. We also shared thoughts on personal survival in the wave of the shrinking economy. “Survival now is very tough”, he often said underscoring genuine echoes from a man not given to mercantile journalism or bartering of stories for a mess of pottage.
Dan reminded me of many brilliant minds in the Nigerian media whose wealth of experience are wasting away and not harnessed for the benefit of our journalism schools. However, the resounding success of many journalists who had long transitioned into the academia like Profs. Ayandiji Aina, Dayo Alao, Kayode Soremekun, Ayo Olukotun, Olugbenga Ayeni, Tunde Akanni, Bunmi Aborisade, Ndaeyo Uko, Ebenezer Obadare, Akin Adeniyi, Akin Adesokan and many others is particularly uplifting.
Dan was no doubt richly imbued with intellectual rigour, deep scholarship and erudition. I’ve always wonder why our journalism schools never considered him for professorship. He may have been consoled that his junior brother, Pita Agbese and daughter, Aje-Ori Agbese are professors. But that is particularly unsalutary to how our journalism schools would have been greatly enriched by his highly resourceful backgrounds.
We are a country that not only pays scant attention to scholarship but prefer to make mincemeat of the rich experiences of many senior media practitioners rather than harnessing them for the benefit of students and younger practitioners. You can see how the appointment of Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Roland Otaru, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria) by the Federal University, Oye Ekiti as Professor of Practice has attracted so much opprobrium.
In other climes, they are wiser and the results are better. Until he died at 85 in 2013, Anthony Lewis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The New York Times writer on judicial matters, held several university teaching positions concurrently with his journalism career, including: Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School for 15 years, where he taught a course on the Constitution and the press.
He was James Madison Visiting Professor at Columbia University, a position he held at the Graduate School of Journalism since 1983. He was also Visiting lecturer at other universities, including the Universities of California, Illinois, Oregon, and Arizona.
Shortly after he left his post as The New York Times Bureau Chief for West Africa and moved on to the Los Angeles Bureau, Kenneth B. Noble was made a professor at the University of Southern California. He was in this position until he died of congestive heart failure in July 2014.
His successor at the West African Bureau, Howard W. French was also later appointed professor at New York State University. He’s perhaps one of the most sort after scholars on China and African studies. His book, China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa is a must read.
I’m sure they are only waiting in the wings to headhunt Norimitsu Onishi, who’s also a former The New York Times Bureau Chief for West Africa as a professor. Onishi, presently in charge of The New York Times bureau in Ottawa, Canada has also been at the Johannesburg, South Africa, Tokyo, Japan and Paris, France bureaus.
If Dan Agbese honed his skills in the United States, he would be rated far above Noble, French or Onishi. He was in the league of Anthony Lewis, the legendary The New York Times political correspondent, Raymond Walter Apple Jnr (more fondly called Johnny Apple on account of his numerous travels) or Helen Thomas nicknamed “First Lady of the Press” for her coverage of 10 US Presidents at the White House.
But somehow I shirked from my regular calls for weeks only to be greeted with news of his passing. A prince of Agilla in Benue State, who opted not to flaunt his kingship ancestry, Dan unfortunately missed the “Appreciation Day” event to honour elders in the media on Wednesday, 22 October 2025. It was organised by Taiwo Obe’s Journalism Clinic at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos. I was also not at the event that could have provided the opportunity to wave my final goodbye.
His death, liken to the fall of the iroko, is a huge loss to the Nigerian media. The tragedy is that reproducing his like in the present clime is a tall order.
May God Almighty comfort his family. Eternal rest grant thee O’Lord and let perpetual light shine on his him.
Iyare, an international journalist, is also a development expert
