05 May 2009
Interview with Journalist Constance Ikokwu of Nigeria
Bureau chief for THISDAY compares journalism in United States, Nigeria
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Narrator:
This is an America.gov podcast.
For print versions or articles and other stories, multimedia, and subscription information, visit www.america.gov.
In recognition of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, America.gov invited international journalists to tell their stories and express their views on their profession.
Constance Ikokwu is the Washington Bureau Chief of THISDAY newspaper, the leading national daily in Nigeria.
Today she tells us how she became a journalist, her experiences of professional life in Washington DC, the differences between journalism in America and in Nigeria, and she shares her observations on how some simple personal rules can help promote international understanding.
Constance Ikokwu:
I became a journalist by chance. It was never something that I planned. It goes back to when I was doing my undergraduate in my home country, Nigeria. Our teachers were on strike and I needed something to do, so I went to a newspaper house, I talked to the editor, and he gave me a note to another newspaper from where they assign different things to me – there was nothing serious. But I developed the interest from there – the newsroom was very lively, it was bubbly, there was a lot of argument, debate. It was full of people and you could scream and yell if you wanted. There was freedom – it felt liberating for me. I had a very good experience.
So I went back to school, and when I graduated, I decided to go back to that media house and ask for a job. And that was how I became a journalist. After my Master’s degree which was in England, I went back home. I was writing articles that had to do with foreign affairs and then politics. Gradually, I was moved to the foreign desk. I got to talk to diplomats; I got to travel to other countries to report. I went to Sudan, I went to Kenya, I went to DR Congo. Eventually, they needed someone to come to Washington office. And I was offered the position. And I decided to come, because I’ve always wanted to travel the world. And my experience on the foreign desk already was wonderful. I decided, you know, I should take it, and that’s how I ended up in Washington DC.
Washington is an interesting place. I don’t know if I have enough words to describe this place. I’ve been to Atlanta, I’ve been to Indiana, I’ve been to New Orleans, I’ve been to New York, I’ve traveled around. The first I noticed when I got to this city was the number of people it attracts from all over the world. I had a sense that it’s a very powerful city. When I began to cover Congress, I saw that a lot of decisions that affect billions of people around the world are made in this city. So, coming in contact with politicians and public officials who make the decisions that affect you – it was a strong experience for me. And it’s very political city. People are serious about – they know what they want, they come in – the lobbying here is another experience for me. I have never seen groups, you know, lobbying groups as powerful as this before in my life. So, it’s also a good learning experience for me. There’s a lot of media going on here, I go to the White House for press briefings, I go the State Department. I cover the World Bank, I cover the IMF. There’s so much to cover and there’s so much to learn. At this stage of my career, this has been a very rewarding experience for me.
I find that public officials in Nigeria are more open to the press. You have easier access to them. There is not a tight system of information in most ministries or in government. You can actually talk to anybody on the phone. But here in Washington, the information is managed very well. Normally, they would prefer you to go to the daily press briefing and ask your questions. So you can see that they are very, very disciplined about how they talk to the press. Then I also found out that politicians are cautious when they’re speaking to the press. Because I think that it affects their political future a lot. So, they take time to think through what they want to say before they actually talk to you. In terms of general media, Nigeria is still a developing country and I must say that we only went back to democracy in 1999. So the experience of the media is entirely different from that of the U.S. During the military rule that we had for over twenty years, it was very difficult being a journalist because obviously, we had a dictatorship that did not like the kind of information that the media was giving to the public. There were media people that were hounded, there were media houses that were shut down, some people went underground. So it was a whole different experience entirely. I wouldn’t say there was press freedom. But, I would commend the journalists, in spite of all the difficulties, terrible circumstances – they prevailed. People continued writing. And I would say that the media is one of the sectors that helped bring back democracy in Nigeria. Now, it is freer. I mean we don’t hear news of journalists being arrested on a daily basis. Although, we still have a long way to go. We are not there yet, but we will get there gradually. My experience in America – America obviously, American democracy has been here for over two hundred years so it’s the most strengthened, developed system. The media is quite strong. Mainstream media in America is very influential and powerful. I have noticed that. In terms of practice, I think that journalists in my country are as much hard-working as those in here. Some people adhere to the ethics of the profession, sometime it’s not easy, but they keep doing their job.
The picture of the U.S. that I had is different from what I am actually experiencing now because we are big on U.S. music, U.S. television, so you grow up with all that. Most African countries are pro-U.S. actually because of the cultural experience that you have through the television. I think that the U.S. is a big country and the attitudes that you get across the states are very different. There are some places you go to and people are more open and they are more at ease with you. There are other places you go to – they are cautious, they don’t know what to say, they don’t know how to behave, they don’t know how to approach you. I think that it would be a good thing if more people from this country traveled; travel abroad and understand that there’s a whole world outside there. I use myself as an example. My travel has made me more tolerant of other people. It has made me understand that there are a lot of cultures that – human beings are human beings. And there is diversity. And you cannot force and change people to be what you want them to be. And part of the problem that I see in doing my job, sometimes you have to approach people and ask them how do I help you? If you sit down and set up an idea and run with it and you think you are actually helping those people, you might not have taken the right step. So it is very important to have an open mind and be able to accept other people and I think it makes your work easier.
Narrator:
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