I met my wife at a night club –Ehi Braimah

May 31, 2014

 

 

Ehi Braimah

Managing Director of Neo Media and Marketing, Ehi Braimah, tells ‘Nonye Ben-Nwankwo about his career and sundry issues

Are you doing what you have always wanted to do in life?

It is a question of interest. I studied Mathematics at the University of Benin. I am a very precise person. Mathematicians always tend to plan effectively and organise their time and resources. It might be because of all we learnt in school and the training. We always try to optimise.

At what point did you take interest in journalism?

It was while I was in school. I took interest in sports journalism. I came to Lagos during the time of Climax Magazine. It was one of the early magazines for entertainment and sports. I edited football magazine at some point. I have always been a football buff. I am a great Arsenal fan.

So why did you switch vocation if you grew to become a sports editor?

It was more of interest. I worked with a sports marketing company from Ideas Communication. Then we set up PR Dimensions which I headed then. From there, we started TQA. After about eight years, I left and started Neo Media. But I am not done with journalism. I have interest in Entertainment Express.

So many people are usually scared of mathematics and you went as far as studying it as a course in the university, how did it happen?

Mathematics was my favourite subject during my primary school days. I was in Government College, Ughelli and I did my HSC at the age of 17. I was a teacher for two years. I taught Mathematics and Physics. I was basically a science student in school as a young man. I wasn’t only teaching, I used to organise summer lessons for students then and I made good money. So as you can see, I started learning how to make money at a young age.

When did you get into the university?

I got into UNIBEN at the age of 19 and I finished at 23.

Why didn’t you study something like Engineering?

It was simply because I had always loved mathematics. You may not have control over some of these things when they happen. It is just a talent. I don’t have any regret. If I hadn’t toed this line, I think I would have been a Mathematics professor. It is just that I am happy doing what I am doing.

Neo Media was listed as one of the fastest growing companies in Nigeria, how do you feel about that?

It was Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with Allworld Networks in the USA that gave us the award last year. It wasn’t publicised as much. Allworld Network is a worldwide initiative that ranks companies using different indices in different parts of the world. Last year was the first time it was done. Fifty companies were selected in terms of performance, corporate governance, turnover and so many other things. The company was just five years old last year. It felt good that we were recognised and acknowledged. Different companies entered for the award and the top 50 companies were ranked.

Looking back now, are you fulfilled?

I am but I wouldn’t mind breaking new grounds everyday. Apart from also being in a hospitality business, I cannot stop dreaming. You just don’t stop dreaming until the day you die. As long as God gives us the strength to carry on, we would carry on. If we have good health and long life, we should never stop dreaming. I have different ideas in my head, when it is God’s time, I will actualise them.

Can you still recall those days of your journalism career?

I was just a young man and I just got to Lagos. I got a platform at Complete Communications, publishers of Complete Sports and I started learning the ropes because I didn’t go to any journalism school. I was a greenhorn but I was practically mentored by the publisher of the magazine. I was inspired by some journalists including the late Dele Giwa and Mr. Ray Ekpu. I used to buy newspapers religiously to read these people even before I came to Lagos.

Was it the search for greener pastures that brought you to Lagos?

Back then in Benin, I used to write for Observer. I had a sports column and I was being paid N10. 50k per article. It was so much money back then. I was a big boy when I was in the university because of the money I was making from the column. I came to Lagos to hone my skill in journalism. I saw a mentor in Dr. Sunny Obazu- Ojeagbase who was a great sports journalist. Even before then, I came to Lagos once while I was still doing my youth service and went to one of the newspaper houses to make enquiries about how to start work after my national service. I eventually joined Complete Sports in 1988.

You must have had so many female admirers as a young man since you said you were a ‘big boy.’

Every young man usually would have so many admirers and same for every young woman. That is the way God created the world. We cannot live in isolation. God’s creation is perfect. To every man, there is a woman. No matter your status or position, you will always have an admirer. It is just for you to wait until you find the missing rib. Some find it early while some find it later. Some don’t even find it at all.

Where did you find your missing rib?

I thank God I eventually found my wife in Lagos. She was a student of the University of Lagos.

How did you meet?

I used to be a regular at the Niteshift Coliseum night club back then. That was actually where I met my wife. She came with her sister to the club and I was also there to dance. There was a mutual friend who introduced us and we took it up from there. We got married while she was still a student.

Some men might not find it ideal dating and even eventually marrying a girl they met at a night club, didn’t you reason that way?

There is nothing wrong with dating or marrying somebody you meet at the club. Let us not deceive ourselves. Young people usually have plenty of energy and they need places to go and burn the energy. If you go to Shoprite now, you will see so many young men and women. We didn’t have such back then. We didn’t have cinemas as we have now. These are places you have congregations of young people. Young people go to the club to enjoy themselves. My wife can dance but then, she wasn’t really a night club person. I think there was usually an occasion or birthday or some sort of celebration that usually brought her and her friends to the club then. I think it was during one of such occasions that we met. It wasn’t as if she was there every week. I was the one who visited the club regularly.

Do you still club?

Not anymore. I was a Niteshift patron. I used to visit other clubs then as a matter of routine for the work I was doing. I was an entertainment writer. I needed to fill my column and I needed to know what was happening. So I had to go to night spots. Life was peaceful then.

Didn’t your wife frown at the fact that you visited the club regularly?

No, it depends on individuals. Before I got married, there were other women. I had girlfriends. But things changed with time. You become more mature. I was young; I was done with youth service at 24. Nature abhors vacuum, you must fill that vacuum. The governor of Niteshift was wonderful; he gave nightclubbing a different meaning. We even formed the Glamour Boys Association of Nigeria back then.