Selling Nigeria Abroad
“Mr. Sutton said he loved Nigerian and that he wanted to report the good things about Nigeria on his radio in New York but the trouble was getting information about Nigeria.”
Percy Sutton walked along the re-carpeted corridor facing a bank of elevators which service the 22nd floor offices of his inner city news, owner of WBLS station in New York, one of the most popular music stations in the United States. He stuck out his right hand for a shake while he clutched a Benin-made walking stick to support a sprained ankle he suffered on a visit to Lagos. Mr. Sutton was a member of the American delegation to the transition ceremonies in Lagos. A lawyer, businessman and a politician, Mr. Sutton is one of the most prominent blacks in the United States and he knows and he enjoys that knowledge which makes his handsome face crinkle when he talks about what he calls information power. And it tickles to hear Mr. Sutton talk about anything because he has a voice that is captivating and more soothing than that of any of his top-flight broadcasters. When he got fed up with being the borough president of Manhattan, Mr. Sutton ran for the Mayor of New York and he was given as good a chance as any of the others who competed with him to win that race.
During the campaign, the press in New York made it a point to mention Mr. Sutton’s captivating voice as good a quality as any to qualify Mr. Sutton as mayor. Of course, Mr. Sutton lost that race but New York still talks about his voice with affection. And it is the voice that he now uses in his law practice and high-stake business ventures. Even the story of Mr. Sutton’s fall in Lagos is told with engaging beauty that it is worth retelling. Mr. Sutton was returning to his suite at the Eko Hotel with his business associate, George Norford, who was until a few months ago a vice-president with the Westinghouse Broadcasting group. Mr. Sutton said he had a penchant for giving big tips to waiters and taxi drivers, because, he said, he was a waiter himself and, so, he understood what it meant to collect big tips. But his friend, George Norford, was always trying to stop him from wasting so much money on tips. So, he said, on that day in Lagos, he was trying to pass some tips to the taxi driver behind Mr. Norford’s back when he dropped into one of those Lagos puddles and down he went. That brought a great deal of laughter. But Mr. Sutton bruised his ribs and sprained his ankle and that’s why, “gentlemen,” he said, laughing, “I am walking with this stick.” From the light-hearted banter, Mr. Sutton went on to stress the need for an efficient public relations apparatus stationed in the United States to handle publicity for Nigeria. Mr. Sutton said he loved Nigeria and that he wanted to report the good things about Nigeria on his radio. But the trouble, Mr. Sutton said, was getting information about Nigeria. For example, he said, to get the decision of the presidential election tribunal, he had to call a friend in London who collected the story for him from BBC, because the Nigerian diplomatic services in the United States didn’t have anything on the events.
Like Mr. Sutton, other prominent black Americans in the media – people like John Procope, publisher of the Amsterdam News in New York; Ed Lewis, publisher of Essence magazine; Gene Jackson, president of National Black Network, a communication company servicing more than 90 radio stations in the United States – all talked about the need for Nigeria to become information smart. Ed Lewis, whose magazine caters for black women, said he would like to feature Nigeria in his magazine. But he complained that it was hard, if not impossible, to get anything on Nigeria. Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, the managing director of Daily Times at the time, then invited Mr. Lewis to do a special on Nigeria and that the Daily Times would gladly send him all the materials he wanted doe the feature.
Gene Jackson, who is about 33 but whose radio news network is gaining in importance throughout the United States, said the reason the Jews in the United States had such an impact was their readiness to spend money on information. It was Donald McHenry, the new United States ambassador to the United Nations, who put the whole concept in a quotable. “Information power,” he called it as he received us in his 11th floor facing the United Nations headquarters in New York. Dr. Patrick Jakpa of the Federal Ministry of Information said he agreed entirely with Mr. McHenry that information was a virulent power that Nigeria would like you invest in the United States and that was why the delegation was going round meeting with important people from New York to Los Angeles. And that’s why, Mr. Sutton said, it was essential for Nigeria to open an information office in the United States to be handled by dedicated Nigerians who understood America and could sell Nigeria effectively.
Mr. Sutton and Mr. McHenry described in lofty terms the political atmosphere in Nigeria which they said was as important any in the history of modern political movements. They said Nigeria should encourage foreign correspondents to come to Nigeria so that the good things about the country could be made known to the world. They said although some foreign reporters might carry negative reports about Nigeria, the efforts would be worth it, in that many of them would carry some positive reporters and such would make blacks in the Caribbean and the United States happy. Mr. Sutton said the future of mankind in Africa was great and that Nigeria had already taken the lead. That’s why, he said, he was planning to build a multi-million naira studio and record pressing complex in Lagos. Laughing, Mr. Sutton said Nigeria should be proud of what it was doing and that they should make all the noise for the world to hear.
©Daily Times, October 10, 1979
(Pp.51-53)
