It was a night of tributes for the Publisher of Vanguard Media Group, Sam Amuka-Pemu, as he celebrated his 90th birthday in Lagos last week.

Popularly called Uncle Sam, the event was anchored by TV presenter and newspaper columnist, Reuben Abati; former president Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Funke Egbemode and multi-platinum Afro R&B singer and songwriter, Darey Art-Alade.

The event, which attracted dignitaries from all walks of life such as Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; Publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Ibru; former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, President Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Kabir Yusuf; President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Malagi Muhammed; held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

Other dignitaries at the event include, Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke; the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III; Deputy Governor of Delta State, Monday Onyeme; former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori; Labour Party 2023 Presidential candidate and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi; Chairman, ThisDay and Arise Media Group, Nduka Obaigbena and presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga.

Others include Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, Bode George; former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke; former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola; founder, Business Day Newspaper, Frank Aigbogun; founder, Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu; Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso.

Describing him as her Itsekiri brother, Ibru said he has ceased to be ‘sad Sam but a happy Sam’. To her, “when he decided he was ‘sad Sam’, I said no, you are happy Sam today and stay that way. He has always been very close to me. I wish him many happy and healthy years.”

Saying they have been together for over 60 years, Osoba recalled, “two years ago, he came to my house and said he will like to die before 90. When I asked him why, he said his iniquities were so much that he knew he will end up in hell. My wife said to him, ‘But your humanity and goodness will be weighed by God. And the good you have done will outweigh your iniquities’.”

He added, “we were together in Daily Times. He was then Sad Sam. He was sarcastic and witty in his writing. He was the only one who could make fun of the military and not get arrested. He left Daily Times and established Happy Home….From Happy Home, he co-founded Punch Newspapers. He, thereafter, went into fishing business and later started the Vanguard Newspapers.”

Yusuf said, “he avoided his 70th and 80th birthday. He also tried to avoid the 90th birthday. We planned that all Nigerian newspapers have congratulatory adverts on his birthday. I was in school when he was writing the ‘Sad Sam’. In the last two years, I had the pleasure of working with him in building some institutions such as the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), International Press Institute (IPI) and NPAN. I learnt two lessons working with him.”

Yusuf disclosed he taught, “us that that you can do your work simply and stay out of the picture. The second is that he is also very generous. When he is happy with you, he calls us names just to encourage us.”

Tinubu described him as a man whose voice has brought conscience to the soul of the Nigerian nation.

He said, “Today, we gather to celebrate the legacy without blemish. This is what makes Uncle Sam one of the most enduring voices in Nigeria’s media. It is not in every generation that we find people like Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is literarily the institutional memory: A man whose fingerprint is imprinted in one of the most iconic in the media in the Punch and Vanguard. They are not just newspapers. They are chronicles of our national lives. He is a guardian of national conscience. He is one of the last standing titans of press freedom in Africa.”