Having spent 35 productive years in Radio Broadcasting as a reporter, presenter, analyst, editor, and an administrator, rising to be the first executive director (News) of the Voice of Nigeria and a director-general of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Ben Egbuna was Mr. Radio. Before his death in January 2021, he had completed his memoir, A Destiny Fulfilled, which details not only his exploits in the media, but provides useful insights into his socialisation, and worldview.
Pungent and lucid, the book is a study in the development of an individual and the institutions destiny took him through. It provides candid close-ups on leading names in the media and politics of his era and unfolds a lot of behind-the-scenes happenings in high quarters in public service.
From the classrooms in Enugwu-Ukwu and Enugu in the Southeast, to Sapele and Warri in the South South, to Lagos and Ota, in the Southwest, and Kuru in the North Central, Egbuna was at home with excellence anywhere he found it. From the trenches in Abia and Anambra states as a soldier, to the clerical post at Post and Telegraphs Department in Lagos, to the broadcast studios in Ikoyi and Abuja, to reportorial duties in Dar’ Salem, where he interviewed an unassuming President Julius Nyerere at a moment’s notice. From Nairobi, where he confronted racism; to London, where he sparred with his boss; and to Ndjamena, where he escaped gunshots by whiskers, Egbuna weaves a compelling narrative. It is a picturesque account of grit, of family ties and professional relationships, and of the forces that shape the content and tone of public broadcasting, and Nigerian politics. It is a great gift to the growing literature of the Nigerian media (with a focus on broadcasting) and our politics. It is one that deserves to be read by the thinking public for the enduring lessons it offers.
Contents: Foreword/Destiny Foretold/My Birth/My Roots/Barracks Boy/Grooming in Enugu/CIVIL WAR Refugee/Soldier Boy/Job Hunting/BROADCASTING Radio Nigeria/Daylight Coup d’état/International Exposure/Matrimony/Trying Times/Siberia/In the eye of the storm/From the Constituent Assembly/VOICE OF NIGERIA Sixty minutes/12 June Presidential Election/New DG, VON/Member National Institute/Confronting Tyranny/Executive Director News/BACK TO FRCN Director General/Settling In/Webs of Intrigue/International Engagements/Ministerial Encumbrance/Kaduna Factor/Bowing Out/TRIBUTES/Index

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