I didn’t plan to be a Mass Communication teacher – Dr. Ogwezzy-Ndisika
Dr. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika is the acting Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos. In this interview she traced her journey to journalism and how she rose to her present position.
How did you become a Mass Communication teacher?
My journey to the classroom was largely unplanned. When I graduated, I first worked for a television station in Katsina State for one year as a reporter. I did my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in the newsroom. When I was posted to Katsina, I cried and told my dad that I won’t go to the desert. But he said I couldn’t stay in the South and conclude that a place was a desert, after all, human-beings were there. I stayed at home and wept. I even went to plan a fake marriage in order to avoid going, but my dad insisted. When my dad didn’t shift ground, my mum said I should go. I went to Katsina unhappily but came back happy. I had a good time there. I was doing news reporting and monitoring foreign stations. I could be assigned to go to any local government or government house if there was breaking news and all that.
I had good exposure. I climbed the Jibia Dam when I was sent to do a story on dams. When I finished my service I went back to Lagos and got a job in an advertising agency where I was working when I got admission to do my postgraduate diploma programme.
I read Linguistics and Communication at the University of Port Harcourt, after which I did my postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication in the University of Lagos and a master’s degree in the same school. In 1997, I started my PhD in the University of Ibadan. I had a break to travel to England when I got a British Chevening scholarship. But I came back, I completed my PhD and joined the services of the University of Lagos as Lecturer 2. At the moment I am an associate professor in the Department of Mass Communication.
You moved from broadcasting to advertising; how did you feel?
It was exciting for me because generally, I have flair for communication. It has been very helpful for me as a teacher of Mass Communication. But I had to resign from the advertising job because the postgraduate diploma programme was very intensive. Before I got admission for the master’s degree I got another job with the First Bank Plc.
When I was employed, they had a policy to post all graduate employees to various branches. So I had to go to the Somolu branch of the bank. And it was really good because that experience helped me a lot. I worked in mandate, loans and advances, customer care and all that. Having garnered such experience, I moved to corporate communications. That was when I applied for the British Chevening scholarship. I got it, so I had to resign after spending five years in First Bank.
Was it difficult to get the scholarship?
It was a very transparent process. I applied online where I did a proposal and sent. They had areas of focus and I chose gender and development. What informed my decision was the inequality I saw around me. I wanted to understand the complex issues surrounding women. I was given a scholarship for one year. And I completed my programme creditably and came back.
Immediately I came back, I joined the University of Lagos. As I was coming back I got one remote consultancy from one World Bank-funded project. They were sending me jobs online and crediting my account, so I was living comfortably. Since then I’ve been in the University of Lagos. I have spent 15 years there.
What has been your experience in the University of Lagos?
Well, I think somebody would be in a better position to assess me. However, I believe that once you are asked to lead a team, you try to be a good leader.
It is believed that our university system has gone so bad that most graduates don’t even know how to write; what is your take?
That is their story, not mine. Try any of our students of Mass Communication in the University of Lagos; they are hands-on. We have state-of-the-art equipment, public relations and advertising laboratories, a print shop with state-of-the-art machines and a broadcast studio (both radio and television). We have a radio station and presently test-running for our television license. As I am talking to you, we have an OB Van for practice. So what are you talking about? Our students are hot cakes everywhere they go. They even source for them and want to retain them. And we have quality lecturers.
Our department is rated a centre of excellence in Africa by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). We produced the first Africa Pulitzer winner in journalism. And we have never failed accreditation.
Are there no challenges?
We have the challenge of funding. But when faced with any challenge you have to find a way around it. We try to utilise the little resources we have effectively and efficiently.
Since your appointment as head of department, have you had cases of favouritism, sexual harassment and other forms of abuse or exploitation?
In the university system there is checks and balance. For instance, in our department, all courses are cross-listed. This means that one lecturer cannot teach a course. One lecturer would conduct 50 per cent of the examination while another would take 50 per cent. At the end they harmonise. So the impact of such things, if any, is quite low.
These students know that if they work hard they wouldn’t have problems with anybody. We don’t encourage mediocrity. You can’t hide under the cloak of sexual harassment and not do your work.
How do you cope with the number of students struggling to gain admission into your department?
It is a major challenge. Because of the equipment we have and the calibre of students we produce, everyone wants to come in. The demand is high.
Perhaps when they start to look at specialised universities, our department would be made a full-fledged faculty so that we can accommodate many more students. That’s the reality, but the National Universities Commission (NUC) is very strict about their guideline on staff-student ratio. That is why the cut-off is very high. We need to have our faculty to be able to train more.
How many students do you have in your department?
We have about 130 students per level. Our quota with the NUC is just about 135.
How many students do you have in an average classroom?
Our courses are generic; that’s how they are designed. Year one classes are very large but we have ways of managing them. By the time they are going into broadcasting, for example, you have about 70 people in a class. But our classes are generally large; that’s why we are asking for a faculty.