How a political cartoon caused seizure of my international passport – Josy Ajiboye
For three decades, Josy Ajiboye, arguably Nigeria’s most prominent newspaper cartoonist, dictated the cartoon pace with fun, finesse and fame at the newspapers. In this interview with the 72-year-old veteran cartoonist shares his joy, pain and progress in
IDaily Times Daily Trust on Sunday,
f you would reflect on your sojourn in the Nigerian newspaper industry with focus on cartooning for which you became widely known, from where would you pick it?
I started cartooning when I was with the Morning Post, which was the first federal governmentowned newspaper. It was located in Ajegunle- Apapa, Lagos. But I wasn’t doing it then on full- time basis. I was actually working with a missionary outfit, the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), which owns the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), ECWA Films Production, African Challenge and a number of other outfits. Then, I was in my 20s and still full of youthful energy.
So, basically, I will say I received professional art training with SIM. The missionary were the ones who advanced my knowledge of art. Of course, that was not to say I didn’t have any art knowledge before joining them at the time. I joined the African Challenge in 1961 and I worked with them for seven years before I resigned in 1968.
When I resigned, I decided I needed to do my paintings. But Sam Amuka-Pemu (Sad Sam), who was then editor of the Sunday Times, called me and asked me to illustrate some articles which were written in The Mirror newspaper in London. As you may be aware, the Daily Times was originally owned by The Mirror, so the Daily Times had an extensive group of people at The Mirror who wrote for them then. So Sad Sam asked me to read through and illustrate based on what I had read. And I did. That was how I started working with the Sunday Times.
Then came a day when Sad Sam told me I would start working for the Daily Times. I was quick to tell him that I didn’t want to work with the Daily Times. But he said: “Well, go and meet Alhaji Babatunde Jose” who was then the Managing Director of the Daily Times group. I considered that a great honour because before I came to the Sunday Times, I had uncles who always bought copies of the Daily Times, and I had been reading about Alhaji Jose in the papers for years.
So I went to honour the request. But even after Alhaji Jose had talked to me, I politely told him that I wouldn’t be working for them. He was shocked. He asked again: “You mean you won’t be working with us?” And I said yes. My affirmation shocked him because he knew the large number of people who were applying for jobs at the Daily Times at the time. But he still talked to me like a father and I left.
The following Monday after my encounter with him, I just received a letter of employment from the Daily Times stating that after the interview I had, the news organization had decided to offer me employment. I was so shocked. But Alhaji Jose was someone I respected a lot and I didn’t want to be rude to him.
I then worked for a month, collected my salary and then turned in my resignation. That development got Baba Jose annoyed. In fact, before I returned to my office from the office of the Personnel Manager where I had dropped my resignation letter, my telephone was already ringing. And it was Baba’s Secretary who was calling me. She said Baba had sent for me.
At the time, Baba was the Chairman and Managing Director combined. Before I got to his office, he had put a chair aside for me and I was to face him and others. It was as if I was being court-marshalled. He said, “Yes we are here for you. You came in, worked for us for one month and then you resigned. What will you go and tell the public that we did to you?”
That was how I returned to my chair. And that was how I spent 31 years of my life with the Daily Times, starting from 1971.
Can you recall any particular cartoon you did for the titles that caused quite an uproar, for which you or the organisation was harassed?
Daily Times
There was a particular one I did that I was harassed for. The harassment was not in the form of an arrest, but my international passport was seized. At the time, Daily Times was planning to send four of us to London. We were asked to send our West African international passports to the Immigration office for stamp. However, two days after, the three other passports were retuned but mine was not.
The development annoyed the then Managing Director of Daily Times and he swiftly wrote a letter of complaint to the Immigration Service. When I got to the Immigration office, I met with the overall boss. He was very surprised I was the Josy Ajiboye he had always read about; he was actually excited. But when I told him how my international passport submitted to the office could not be traced among several other submitted ones, he was very annoyed. He called about two of his subordinates and enquired what could have gone wrong. He was so miffed that he eventually demanded for a new form, which he asked me to fill with a promise that a new international passport would be delivered to me by evening.
But when his subordinates left the office, I told him not to bother. I said even if I went on to get a new passport, Immigration or Custom officers who must have seized the initial one could bring it out at the point of screening me to accuse of having two different international passports and roped me into a criminal case. So I told him I would let the travelling opportunity pass me without pressing it further.
Which of your cartoon publications would you say warranted the seizure of your passport?
Well, I sensed it had to do with the cartoon I did after the 1979 presidential election. The cartoon mirrored the political quagmire between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Shehu Shagari on the debate about the required 2/3rd majority, which neither Awolowo nor Shagari had. But somehow, we ended up with Shagari as President. So I did a cartoon capturing the political episodes, depicting my belief that politics was nothing but a game.
Of course, I really didn’t believe those who might be hurt would get the import of the message, but they did get it and moved to get back at me. Eventually, after about four months, someone just walked into my office one day and said he was asking for Josy Ajiboye. After I had identified myself, he said he was asked to give me my international passport.
My wife is not professionally an artist but somehow I have influenced her into having a deep interest in Fine Art. But all my four children are artists. The first one, a son, actually has a doctorate in Art, while the second, also a son, has a Master’s. There is a girl among them who is also an artist. I can tell you that they are all doing fine in the profession.
I did not influence any of them though. Apparently, they developed interest in the arts because they knew I had done well in it. And I didn’t have to sit them down and tell them.
What niche would you say you carved for yourself at the Daily Times?
I survived many Managing Directors and other bosses at the Daily Times because, obviously, all enjoyed what I was doing. I believe that before any of them joined the Daily Times organisation, he had read me, because at every first editorial meeting, you would hear them ask: “Who is Josy Ajiboye?” That was enough inspiration and fulfilment.
What have you been doing since you retired from the Daily Times in 2002?
I have been drawing, painting and holding exhibitions at home and abroad. As an artist, there is no retirement. I won’t be giving up art anytime soon. I don’t see myself doing anything other than art.