By Nik Ogbulie
May Ray’s soul find grace in the bosom of the Lord.
After some four years spent in a secondary school as a teacher, Ray left for Lagos to join his schoolmates whose stories were always referenced at The Guardian Newspapers. There were few of our guys at The Guardian then: Pius Isiekwene, Ayogu Eze, Goddy Nnadi and Ikeddy Isiguzo. But all these just left The Flagship for greener pastures as Ray and I were getting ready to settle with The Financial Guardian and The Guardian On Sunday respectively.
We lived like Siamese twins (Siamese monkeys) as we did so many things together. We went out for stories together, went to the canteen together, and even spent our weekends together as well as visited our babes together, basking in the arrogance of The Flagship journalists, an appellation that opened doors then.
When it was time to move, Ray decided to join Business Champion Newsmagazine, a decision I didn’t buy because of the obvious arbitrage The Guardian offered. It really went well in cash for him but the magazine refused to fly. I later left when The Guardian was closed down. I joined Professor Ukandi Damachi’s Weekly Telegraph, a newspaper floated to defend all the indefensible of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangid, IBB, when they muted the Civilian Presidency stuff. But I spent only six months there as I was invited to the Corporate Affairs team of the now defunct Merchant Bank of Africa Limited owned by the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme. It was here that I had to get Ray as a replacement at Damachi’s Telegraph as Business Editor as I moved to the bank. He did so well as my replacement from where Frank Aigbogun came to poach him while editing The Vanguard.
At the Vanguard he was thrown into the Atlantic Ocean as a Maritime Editor. This was where Ray’s career blossomed to unimaginable proportions. He became an authority, a leader and an expert in everything about Customs, Immigration, pirates, smuggling, flying containers, RO’RO terminals, concession, pre-shipment inspection, name it. He became a maritime mouthpiece, leading Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) and later Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN) as an owner of online and hardcopy editions.
Ray transformed himself from a late-comer into journalism after spending about four years as a village pedagogue in one or two rural schools in his Owerri crevices before meeting the Rutam House superstars. He quickly came to terms with the trade as a very brilliant person we all can attest to. Like every ‘Rutamite,’ Ray continued to improve himself as he quickly took a Masters in Maritime Studies from UNILAG.
A well-known Lagos journalist and father of two, he was a member of many Maritime capacity-building groups before he passed on. The Anglican Church in his region calls him MC Emeritus because he handles all their activities involving hybrid planning.
He recently went into National Union of Journalists, NUJ, politics in Lagos and contested for the post of State Secretary General. He lost by only one vote against a Yoruba opponent; that tells how strong, courageous and popular our ‘Coitician’ had become.
What has just happened is that the IMT Mass Communication class of 83 has only myself holding the pen or keyboard in Lagos as the case may be. Isiguzo has gone to Abuja for the new money and Isiekwene is tending his flocks. There is no one again to share the good and bad times with.
For his family, the future doesn’t seem rosy. Ray’s house in the Journalists Estate is not yet completed. If you like, call it work-in-progress. I understand that he went to restart his project at home the time he was called. The wife teaches with the Armed Forces Rehabilitation Centre, Oshodi, under a Parents Teachers association, PTA, arrangement which does not guarantee her future.
Pardon my going too deep. It’s just laying all things bare so that we can through this channel assist the living.
Ray. My Coitician!! My good friend…this is your life. You have gone to be with your parents and the Almighty. Rest, Rest in Peace!!
Ogbulie was of the IMT Mass Communication Class of 1983