Long before kidnapping-for-ransom or money ritual became rife, and then assumed the current industrial-scale dimension, there was an unforgettable incident in Lagos. At the time, innocence still had meaning, and society could be revulsed by unacceptable behaviour, especially one that was novel and posed a significant threat to the saner majority.
So, sometime in 1991, at Festac Town, two young children being conveyed to school by their family driver were kidnapped by the driver. As subsequent information revealed, the driver took the children across the border, into Benin Republic. A bolt of panic shot through, not just Festac Town, but among parents elsewhere in the megalopolis, where drivers are often entrusted with the task of school runs—-taking the children to and from school. The capital of the Federation was still in Lagos, and had not moved officially to Abuja. The country was also under military rule.
Ladbone was Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, while Femi Kusa was Editor of the daily newspaper. I was Deputy Editor. We had a fantastic production team: Ogbuagu Anikwe was News Editor; Levi Obijiofor was Production Editor; Pa Mac-Alabi was Night Editor. Razaq Adedigba was the supremo of the Sub Desk, as Chief Sub-Editor, with Gbenga Omotosho as Deputy Chief Sub-Editor. There were other equally capable and dedicated lieutenants, along with selfless and committed reporters and correspondents.
Even though not rigid, we had developed a rhythm for the treatment of stories on the front and back pages, and other news pages in-between, for the paper. Policy, Business and Economy, Politics (with the transition to civil rule on a note of rigmarole before unravelling disastrously after the June 12, 1993 elections), International affairs, and human interest stories were often top choices for us. Once Razaq and I had tipped stories for the cover pages, he would clear the shortlist with the Editor. Ladbone was quite familiar with the routine.
But when the story broke that school children had been abducted by their family driver in Festac Town, Ladbone stepped in. He might have sensed that we were likely to stick to our rhythm. He was right. We had the story on the kidnap incident, but it wasn’t intended for our lead, not even second lead, on the front page. Our reckoning was that the kidnap story was meat for the afternoon papers and other tabloids to feast on, even while we did not miss the copy.
The Guardian wasn’t going to bed just yet, and the shortlist of stories had not been forwarded to the Editor for his ratification. But Ladbone, the MD and Editor-in-Chief, was proactive. He sent for me, to meet him in his office. He then asked me what stories we were contemplating for the paper the next day. I gave him a rundown of the important stories we had. But I did not mention the kidnap story among the top three.
Ladbone’s face contorted into a scowl that was a rebuke. Ladbone said something to the effect: “Look, look, look. School children have been kidnapped. Parents everywhere are in panic. And you are busy talking about Policy and Business and Economy stories? Who will have the patience to read such stories at this time? The same people who are making the policies, or are impacted by the policies; the same players in the economy have families and children, and they are grimly concerned about what has happened in Festac Town.”
The message sank in immediately with a hypodermic needle effect. Ladbone did not issue any further directives. As I left his office, it was clear the kidnap story was going to be a frontpager and lead. I came over to the Sub Desk and conferred with Razaq, relating the sentiment of Ladbone, and why that should guide our news judgment. Razaq and I went again to Ladbone’s office, and he more or less summarised what he earlier told me. The kidnap story was our frontpager the next day.
Ladbone’s intervention in the treatment of the kidnap story was an unforgettable moment of clarity—-about humanity, human interest stories, and seizing the moment of an unusual story to disrupt our rhythm of news selection even as a serious newspaper not given to sensationalism, but to immediately draw attention to some clear and present danger in the community, in society.
The unforgettable clarity and inherent lesson percolated into one’s subconscious and every now and then gets dredged up and utilised as occasion demands, whether in news selection or choice of topics in interpretive writing or topics for conversation on television on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria.
Subsequently, we kept the Festac Town kidnap story alive with prominence and depth. Dependable Reporters were deployed to cover the numerous angles of the story. This was so even after the denouement, when the children were rescued in Benin Republic. And one of the memorable statements by the children upon being rescued was that “auntie always came to feed us…” Instructively, the very discerning readers who were among our target audience were delighted with our handling of the kidnap story and matters arising therefrom.
It is not unlikely that, given the respectability which The Guardian enjoyed, and being a preferred choice among the elite class, our elevation of the coverage of the abduction incident precipitated official response with the engagement of a vast pool of assets and resources that assisted in locating the whereabouts of the abducted children and their rescue.
Otherwise, after the initial fruitless search for the children, the incident might have slipped into the broad category of “Missing Persons” of which there were—-and still are—-many cold case files. And the parents would have stewed in the endless agony of reported sightings of the children, and trails that led nowhere.
Nigerian journalism has lost the knack or verve for follow-up stories. If not, 34 years later, it would be interesting to read about those children and their parents today.
I make these recollections now, to highlight one of the enduring journalistic legacies of Lade Bonuola (Ladbone), inaugural Editor of The Guardian, an irrepressible headhunter, who recently turned 80. I, therefore, join family, friends, colleagues, and well-wishers in toasting to many more birthdays of the phenomenal Ladbone—-in sound health, happiness, and enduring contentment.
Barrister Osadolor is a former Editor of The Guardian on Sunday and erstwhile Deputy Editor-in-Chief/Deputy Managing Director of The Guardian.