Asaju Tunde
The relationship between me and Prof Kperogi are probably well known. Our paths crossed in more ways than one. His late wife was my own Yagba sister, a woman of virtue and impeccable character. May Allah be pleased with her.
We both wrote columns for the Daily Trust stable and were at different times victims of our doggedness in fighting the civilian dictatorship with its professional harassment.
Much younger than me, Prof Kperogi is a professional giant whose competence and personal integrity is as impeccable as his sources in high places. He has fed our society with stories that have made it better and most often has been the nemesis of the evil cabal that takes turn to ravage our society.
On this issue of Aisha Buhari’s divorce, Professor Kperogi has come to the same point that all professionals would, at some level in their professional career – either be misled or in this case, an error of judgment caused by by the overriding need for the public to know.
This is a lapse of judgment that even the most experienced professionals among us would sometimes fall victim in the mercurial 24-hour news cycle. We are often left to make a decision about our own judgment and the public’s need to know. It is indeed a huge thing to put one’s pride and indeed one’s professional integrity on the line to accept one’s error. It is the best thing to do and Kperogi has chosen the noble path of accepting an error of judgment and to render a deserved apology.
This hardly counts as negligence on the part of a diligent investigative reporter. In assessing Prof Kperogi’s error of judgment, and the weight of his apology, we should never lose sight of his past contributions to the advancement of journalism, his dogged determination to see our country become better and his dedication to advocating for an open society. His professional career has been devoted to ensuring that Nigeria becomes a better nation.
No human is above error. The best of us would make an error of judgment at one point or another. We would learn from it and given a second chance go ahead to become better at what we do.
My confidence in Prof Kperogi’s professional competence remains unshaken. I believe he has enough fuel left in the tank and a good volume of reserve to keep rendering service to the free flow of information in Nigeria. I believe in his capacity to put this behind him and to continue to build great journalistic minds as a professor of the trade and feed his readers with works of profound excellence and accuracy for which he has won laurels.
I will urge his publics not to judge him too harshly on one admitted mistake. I hope Mrs. Aisha Buhari and the Buhari family will, in the spirit of the moment – forgiveness; overlook this lapse and forgive the journalist for a better society.
