If there was anyone who prepared himself adequately for his life career, it was Prince Tony Momoh. After attending a teachers’ training college to train as a teacher, he grounded himself in mass communication and law to make himself a well-rounded professional in both fields. He was a renaissance man; a man of many parts.
My first encounter with him was not a physical one. I was reading a copy of the DAILY TIMES newspaper in 1980 when I saw a story where Tony Momoh was said to have been promoted Deputy Manpower Adviser of the Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) Plc after having served as the editor of the paper. That did not interest me much. What intrigued me was that the man had degrees in mass communication and law.
I later encountered him as a journalism student, a journalist in the DAILY TIMES and as a lawyer in his chambers. He was the chairman of the Board of Governors while I was a student representative at the Times Newspaper Training Centre (TNTC) later Times Journalism Institute (TJI). He was the General Manager of Times Publications Division (TPD) while I was a Sub Editor in the DAILY TIMES and I ended up as an associate in his law chambers while he was the principal co-ordinator. We worked together in all other areas including media and publicity campaigns as well as political consultancy for the late Dr Alex Ekwueme and President Muhammadu Buhari until his body transited on Monday, February 1.
In my more than 40 years of interaction , I saw a man who stood for hard work, meritocracy, honesty, punctuality, reliability, integrity and humility. These virtues reflected in his daily activities.
He scored many firsts. He was the first known journalist in the country and the first DAILY TIMES editor to empower himself with degrees in mass communication and law. He was the first Editorial Training Manager of TJI. He was the first and only journalist who became editor of the old DAILY TIMES through examination. He was the first and only General Manager of the TPD to have been appointed Minister of Information and Culture. He was the first and only minister to write letters to his countrymen.
Despite the fact that the federal government held majority shares in the Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) plc while he was Editor of the DAILY TIMES, he did not hesitate to challenge members of the Second Republic National Assembly when they tried to interfere with his job. He took them to court and got a judgement in what has become a landmark case in both constitutional and media law reports today.
He abhorred wastefulness. I remember how as General Manager of the TPD, he insisted that waste papers (unsold newspapers) be sold. He used the proceeds from the sale to build a structure which later served as an in- house health clinic in the premises of the TPD at Agidingbi, Ikeja.
A critic of government before Babangida’s era, he saw his appointment as minister as a way to rope him in. That was exactly what he told this writer when he came back from the United Kingdom into the Agidingbi newsroom in 1986 while I was congratulating him on his appointment.
Even in the “dirty game” of politics, his virtues determined the kind of politicians he chose to work with- Alex Ekwueme and Muhammadu Buhari. Both men were seen as men of integrity. He saw his entry into politics which began in 1998, as head of the Media Campaign Organisation of the late Alex Ekwueme Presidential campaign under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as purely professional. Until recently, he never saw himself as a politician but a professional in politics. His preferred aspirant lost to Olusegun Obasanjo at the Jos Convention where the PDP presidential primaries were held. Obasanjo subsequently won the election and was president from 1999 to 2007.
He later pitched his tent with Buhari from 2003 under the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). Despite opposition from some family members and friends, who thought that Buhari did not have the chance of becoming president, he stuck to the relationship. Buhari won in 2015.
After working for Buhari for 12 years (2003 – 2015) before he eventually won election as president, he told those of us working closely with him that he did not expect any rewards because we did the job not for material benefit but because we believed in the man – Buhari. Even after winning a second term, I asked him why we did not get appointments despite the efforts we put in for many years to make the President Buhari realise his ambition, he told me he had submitted our names to the Presidency and was not ready to beg anybody to oblige him. That was typical of Tony Momoh. He never begged to be recognized. He was, however, made Pro chancellor and chairman of the Governing Board of the University of Jos.
He authored, co-authored and edited many books on various subjects ranging from journalism to media laws, spirituality, and politics. They include: Each Man, His Time: The Biography of an Era; The Role of The Media in National Security and Crime Management; Democracy Watch: A Monitor’ s Diary, Volumes I – III; Experiment With Disintegration; Nigerian Media Laws and Ethics; Reflections on Letters to My Countrymen; News of The Forgotten Arm; Simple Strokes, Issues and Perspectives in Government Media Relation; Thoughts on Governance Without Tears , To Save Nigeria, Let’s Talk; Women in Chains; Nigeria: A Dream Betrayed; Aliens on Earth; Story of the Daily Times: 1926- 1976; and Many Questions and Buhari’s Answers .Momoh did not relate with people on the basis of where they came from. He believed in humanity. He worked with whoever he came across as long as that person was good enough at what he was doing. He did not relate on the basis of tribe or religion After having been very close to him like a son for over 20 years, he told me in 2002 when I was preparing to go to Nigerian Law School that he thanked God he did not know where I came from. I had asked him about Etsako Club’81, a social club of willing and well- to -do members from the three Etsako Local Government Areas of Edo State and he asked what business I had with the club. I told him I was from Etsako to which he replied: “I didn’t know that” adding, “Thank God I didn’t know where you came from”. He explained that the way I spelt my surname did not give him any clue that I was from the same local government with him. We laughed over it.
He also mentored many other Nigerians without bothering to know their tribe, religion or ethnic group .
Momoh did not openly identify with any of the two major religions in the country because according to him, he did not want to be involved in their quarrels. He was a spiritual man, who though, embraced the tenets of both Islam and Christianity, preferred to be an adherent of the Grail Message. He believed that man is a spirit and that the Spirit does not die; only the body that dies. He believed in life after life. Tony Momoh is not dead but has only transited to the other life in paradise. He will always be remembered as the man who epitomised honesty, discipline, integrity, hard work, excellence and humility. He knew what he wanted in life and went for it. He lives on.
Ogbamosa, lawyer/journalist is based in Lagos.