I was happy that Soyinka got angry Concord interviewed his ex-wife — Awoyinfa

Veteran journalist and author, Mike Awoyinfa, tells KEHINDE AJOSE his life at 70, journalism and other subjects

You were the Managing Director/Editor of Sun Newspaper at some point in your career. What was the experience like for you?

Before going to The Sun, I had written a book called "50 Nigerian Corporate Strategists", in which top Nigerian CEOs shared their experiences. I wrote it with my late friend Dimgba Igwe. We interviewed big names in the corporate world. There were no questions we didn't ask them, including questions focused on management, how a business is run, and how they reached the peak of their career. We also asked them what it takes to motivate Nigerians to work harder, as well as time management. It was a very revealing project. The book was sold for N10,000 then, and it was selling like hot cake. I was still with Weekend Concord as an editor at the time.

Before them, we also wrote a book called "The Art of Features Writing". This is the book that opened the door for me and Dimgba. We met at Sunday Concord, in those years under Dele Giwa. It was the editor who supervised us. Back then Sunday Concord was the place to be and we learned a lot under Giwa. Everything we learned about management was what I applied in The Sun. The strategy we used was that I let Dimgba, who was my deputy, take over management entirely. He was the disciplinarian and he had a talent for managing people. On the other hand, I was the dreamer, the man of ideas, thinking about the future. I was also responsible for the editorial direction.

What challenges did you face at Sun Newspapers?

These were the usual challenges of gaining market acceptability. You can pour all the money in the world into a product, but if you don't get the right brand image, you may not be able to have an impact. And, the money will go down the drain. There are many dead newspapers that believe that. Even the name given to a newspaper must be based on strategies. When we launched Sun, the owner, Orji Kalu, wanted a newspaper called "New Republic". Based on our background and pedigree, we told him that if we had created a newspaper called "New Republic", we wouldn't know how to sell it. Before that, there was a newspaper called "Republic" which died a natural death.

We felt that calling a newspaper "New Republic" was not strategic enough. We told him we came from a tabloid background, so we should call the paper "The Sun". He said we could call him whatever we wanted. We then started and created the product drawing from our Weekend Concord experience. We knew that the way you start a product is very important. If we start without a fuss, it would be very difficult to catch up. We made sure that the first edition was very powerful.

What were some of the things you did back then to stand out?

At that time, General Ibrahim Babangida (retired), had not spoken on the cancellation of the elections of June 12, 1993. Fortunately, the president of the company, Kalu, told us taken to Babangida. We sat down with him, and he bared his mind on Abacha and other related issues. The interview was published in the first edition of the newspaper. When it was released it was a big bang. People were looking for him and asking, “Where is that newspaper Babangida talked to? Our brand image was also good. We did a TV jingle. We brought in a white guy, Mr. Allen, who was our technical director. In the jingle, he said, “Hi, do you remember them? This is Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe. They were with Weekend Concord at the time. Now they are launching The Sun based on the best tradition of British tabloid journalism. When people saw the white man they thought we were from the Sun of London. The design was similar to that of The Sun from the UK. People thought that The Sun from the UK had established a branch in Nigeria. This is one of the things that has helped us. We also contacted the singer, Orits Williki, who created another jingle for us. People loved it and kids danced to it.

What do you consider your legacy in this position?

The fact that the newspaper is not dead is a legacy for us. This means that the foundation we built was very strong. It also means that the training we gave at the time was very solid. The brand itself is strong, so continuity and durability are there.

You are known for creating creative titles. How were you able to perfect this skill?

That was our selling point. One of the things that...