Controversy: Ismaila Isa Funtua, NPO, NIJ, and the search for honour

Lanre Idowu
Ismaila Isa Funtua and NIJ House, Victoria Island, Lagos
By Lanre Idowu
The passage of Malam Ismaila Isa, one-time president of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, and a visible and voluble presence in the corridors of power continues to elicit public interest following the renaming of the NIJ House in his honour.
A statement issued July 22, barely 48 hours after Isa’s transition, by the Nigerian Press Organisation—an industry umbrella for the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Guild of Editors, and Nigeria Union of Journalists—announced the decision to rename the NIJ House in Victoria Island as Ismaila Isa House.Signed by Nduka Obaigbena, president of NPAN and NPO, the statement anchored the honour on Isa’s “untiring contributions to the development of Journalism and Freedom of the Press in Nigeria and around the world after a life of dedicated service to Nigeria that spanned politics, business and media”. Obaigbena said of Isa: “His contributions to the development of journalism are innumerable: including, but not limited to his co-founding of Democrat Newspapers; presidency of the NPAN at a time of national crises, and later a life patron; services to the international Press Institute where he served on the global board; contributions to journalism education as Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, ETC, ETC.”
Nduka Obaigbena
The attendant reactions raise the issue: what, when, and how is an honour due?
Steve Osuji, the columnist with the Nation, was the first to convey the disbelief at the honour. In https://www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2020/07/25/ismaila-funtua-at-times-like-this-ones-ashamed-to-be-a-journalist-in-nigeria/ he expressed “doubts and scepticism that media leaders in Nigeria sat and reached a consensus to hoist Funtua on our rooftop as the poster boy of Nigeria’s media.” And if they did, he saw the move as “nothing short of hara-kiri, (the) self-immolation of the media establishment in Nigeria… a shame indeed.”
Steve OsujiReviewing the NPO’s reasons for honouring Isa, Osuji saw nothing of outstanding value, denouncing Isa’s alleged co-founding of The Democrat as no big deal and “all other so-called achievements tagged to late Funtua mere honorifics many of which were opportunistic conferment.”
In https://newspotng.com/funtua-honour-not-deserved-by-bola-bolawole/ Bola Bolawole, editor of The Punch, in the heady days of the military dictatorship in the 90s, toed Osuji’s path. “It was hasty,” he said. “At best, the decision was the personal opinion of the individuals purportedly speaking for and or acting for the organisations in question.” He recalled his interaction with Isa, saying when Isa had an opportunity to speak for the media in the face of persecution, he chose to grandstand before government officials and try to browbeat him from seeking an answer to his tough question on why the Punch was shut down. Bolawole vowed: “This is one honour not deserved – and it will not stand. It shall be reversed. And someone worthy of the honour shall receive it. Certainly not Malam Ismaila Isa Funtua.”