BROADCAST ICON PASSES ON
Oct 12th, 2008 by admin
Two weeks ago one of Nigeria’s broadcast icon passed on. The news had blown me away mainly because I had felt Uncle Yinka would overcome Lymphoma, blood cancer. Besides, he had been optimistic.
Though, I never got to see him before he died, we kept in touch via email and his up beat attitude left me in no doubt that a miracle would truly happen. How ever as Christians a miracle did happen he went to be with the Lord. And God’s will we accept.
As the days became weeks I wondered what the best tribute would be to an icon who touched many lives within and outside the broadcast industry with his sense of humour, style and creativity. I reasoned the only way, was to acknowledge a true professional, a man, who had reminded everyone who came his path the essence of handwork and perseverance.
It is with a heavy heart I remember his support of my decision to branch out carve a niche for myself. Thank you Uncle Yinka.
God’s will we accept, knowing that Yinka Craig lived a fulfilled life. I am thankful for his life, particularly thankful that I had the opportunity to know and learn from him.
Yinka Craig (1948 – 2008)
Now, the best tribute to him would be the emulation of his core attributes of humour, creativity, diligence and insight.
Craig’s was truly a life well lived. And nothing authenticates that assertion better than the testimonies of his colleagues, associates and subordinates. In the words of Mrs. Augusta Maduegbuna, Manager (News and Current Affairs) of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA): “Yinka Craig was not materialistic. Nigeria has lost a thorough-bred professional, an extraordinary producer and an encyclopedia of sports. He was very knowledgeable, humble, articulate and humourous. He taught us to keep our fingers crossed on new stories and inculcated the spirit of hardwork in us.”
Craig who had wanted to study sociology to the Ph.D. level had the course of his life rechanneled when he joined the defunct Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1967 as a studio operator. But his rise to prominence occurred in the 1980s as a sports commentator at the NTA. There, his wealth of understanding, not only in sports but also in many other endeavours, marked him out. He brought the knowledge he had acquired on his numerous trips across the globe to bear on his responsibilities at the television house. His pragmatic approach to work produced at least two of NTA’s enduring programmes: Newsline and AM Express.
His love for broadcasting was so strong that even after he retired voluntarily from NTA in 1990, he maintained a foothold in the career that gave him satisfaction and whose development he contributed to immensely. For those who were too young to appreciate his proficiency in sports reporting two decades ago, the animation, homeliness and candour Craig later exhibited as AM Express main anchor for so long provided a substitute window into the life of one of the respectable links between old and modern broadcasting in Nigeria.
Through sheer steadfastness, Craig conducted himself ahead of his time. Far before it became fashionable in his industry and indeed country to use computers, Craig was often in the company of his laptop, verbalizing and conceptualising his ideas and also repositioning himself for the 21st Century. He did become the better for those efforts as his style of presentation portrayed uniqueness, confidence and versatility.
Away from the tube, Craig could also not be ignored. With appreciable dexterity at the piano, guitar and saxophone, his promotion of young musicians, sometimes through his television programmes, was noteworthy. His death is, therefore, a minus to the entertainment sector that’s in dire need of passionate patrons and promoters.
For Craig, the 60 years he spent on earth were largely in enriching the dignity and quality of his co-travellers in the journey of life. That is the ultimate requiem. Adieu.