Celebrating Macdonald Obinna : Honned In Nigeria And Honoured At The Horn Of Africa In Rwanda

Dr. Modesty Vitus M Ezenwa. 

Owerri, Imo State .

Receiving awards and being recognized in Nigeria moves some of us only but an inch. The cost is enormous and the value is scaled publicly. Very few attach importance to such assemblages. Nigerians harvest honors, awards, titles and recognitions with cash. The only pain, and perhaps the greatest efforts made to garner rewards and awards in Nigeria is expressed through money. If you don’t have the cash to spend, you may live in this country without a mention. But the story changes with a change in location.

The news that one of the emerging faces in the New Media and evolving digital media coverage in Nigeria, Njoku Macdonald Obinna was recognized for honour by the internationally recognized leadership institute, Jamie Pajoel International, became a soft sell among those who have good knowledge of both the awardee and the award giving organisation. The Award ceremony was held at Marriott Marriott Hotels Kigali, in the far away Republic of Rwanda, at a time when Nigerian judiciary was busy contemplating rewarding proven fraudulent activities of a sick ruler with gold.

Njoku MacDonald receiving his award from Jamie Pajoel- CEO of renowned leadership institute, Jamie Pajoel International

The organizers of the award picked the awardee from the long list of men and women who practice their profession with pungency and tact. Njoku Macdonald Obinna is a young man who started the lines in a very low but dignified manner.

He started leaning on the ropes observing the skills and practices of the veterans. Humility exemplified, he had his mind set on the topmost rug of the profession like swore before the blue sky to practice a different brand of journalism with all sense of decorum and finesse. Macdonald wasn’t born with a silver spoon but he managed to put pressures on the goddess of fate to have his middle destiny tilted hugely to his favour. He never folded his hands, and he worked tirelessly to make a special name.

The media industry has favoured the young handsomely made Abba man. He has received favours from men and from the gods too. His charming personality and alluring character do the magic. Macdonald, the Chief Executive Officer, and publisher of the 4th Estate Reporters is one of the few in the current pack, that maintains the borderlines of the ethics of journalism. He doesn’t look an inch close to the conventional journalists on the streets of Owerri and PortHarcourt. He fits his own mold always preoccupied with new ideas.

Njoku Macdonald Obinna, a fellow of the Institute of Professional Managers and Administrators of Nigeria has been on the rise in the last few years. Jobs, big jobs, come knocking. He doesn’t scout for news anymore. He doesn’t struggle to win contracts rather he gets referrals. His clients keep widening his goodwill and the newsman, Macdonald, will always leverage on the relationships he built.

The awardee has received several honours in the past. He has spent much of his resources honing himself, working and perfecting on his skills. He keeps telling his friends that he has a different idea of what a journalist should be, and with his exploits and discoveries, his incursions into hitherto unknown areas in the industry and his courageous manipulations of the working keys in the media world, the New Media guru has left many an admirer gazing.

Macdonald is always on the wheels; fom Ghana to Kenya, Kenya to Rwanda, while pushing for new frontier in the Western world.
He is restless, relentless and over enterprising , busy and continuously engaged by those who value both his works and his worth.

Mr Njoku has got a massive fan base in Nigeria. His generosity evades poverty. He keeps blessing his friends, fans and readers with part of the harvests. But he always starts his charity works at home, ensuring that his beautiful wife Lady Elizabeth Ogechukwu Macdonald picks first. Creating happiness and diminishing sorrows appear to be his secondary calling. He radiates joys and ensures that those around him are joyous.

While he was honoured last year, 2022, by Ghana – Nigeria Acheivers Award organisation as the Most Enterprising Young Media Personality. The new award by Jamie Pajoel International for an outstanding lnternational Business Leader is an apt statement , defining a young man who has brought news reporting to an entertainment stage. Jamie Pajoel has succeeded in buffing up his profile of integrity with his choice of Njoku Macdonald Obinna for this prestigious award. It is indeed a fitting cap. Recognizing talents, character, industry and commitment should be the thrust of every award. Let organisers of Award and Recognition events borrow a leaf from Jamie Pajoel and stop targeting purses !

Nze Dr Modesty Vitus Ezenwa, Akwaa akwuru Umuobom , is the publisher of Ideato Voice Newspapers.