By Ahmad Sajoh
Uncle Tim was not just a craftsman when it comes to use of language but he was a wordsmith in the mould of Winston Churchill.
Honestly I am not trying to exaggerate this but simply being factual. One day he met me producing Christian Half hour because late Christy Daniel had traveled and could not return on time.
I recall that the guest then was Brother Peter Makanto, now Bishop of the Upper Room Cathedral.
At first he was shocked that I a Muslim was producing Christian Half hour. But his emotional display was very brief. He had only one concern. What if there were errors in the use of Biblical language? When I displayed a fair knowledge of that he immediately relaxed. Words, sentences and language meant a lot to him.
One of the things I enjoyed most was working on a documentary script Uncle Tim would narrate.
You keep changing words, reworking sentences and rearranging facts as if you were working on a canvas in order to paint a masterpiece.
For him writing was always an art. TV was a tool of the arts. The audience watching TV programs are part of the canvas. Everything works to entertain. He believed that the time spent watching TV is competing with a flurry of other activities.
Therefore, the key to keep the audience glued is the entertainment component. In the process you get informed and educated. That was an argument that gave me high marks when I went to study at the NTA TV College Jos.
By the way, Uncle Tim spoke good French as well. So sometimes we use French metaphors to rearrange our script.
It was from him I learnt the art of keeping a central theme run through the whole script from paragraph to paragraph.
Before we got to working on a script we always took a position on the message we wanted to send out. Uncle Tim believed that all communication must capture and retain interest inorder to deliver a message.
So all TV contents must be interesting. He had capacity to influence all contents from children’s shows to hardcore interviews. He was a musician, a teacher, a philosopher and mentor of the youth all rolled into one.
But in doing all of that he was witty as well. He disliked any script that did not have a touch of fun. In fact sometimes even in real life he found humour in very serious matters.
I recall one early Monday morning when we came to his office with a serious issue. What was it? Well, some hot news was making the rounds in Yola.
During the weekend preceding that fateful Monday, a Lagos tabloid had broken a very annoying story that a General Manager of a Broadcast Station in Yola was caught making it in the car with a lady Staff.
In view of the fact that there were only two Broadcast Stations in Yola at that time; NTA Yola and GBC Yola, Uncle Tim was definitely a suspect.
When we got to his office after usual greetings, we jokingly asked him if he heard the news about the GM and the car rendezvous with a female staff member?
His response was vintage Timawus Mathias. “There are only two GMs of Broadcast Stations here in Yola. Timawus Mathias and Lawal Gabdo. Since it’s not Timawus Mathias you guys should now go and ask Lawal Gabdo.” Very straight, no anger, no beating about the bush and no pretence.
Uncle Tim we appreciate your mentorship. We benefited from your professionalism. We value your memory. We owe you one duty, to treat others the way you treated us. To teach others what you taught us. To influence others the way you influenced us. Teachers live eternally. Media professionals are immortal. Your body and soul may return to the Lord, but your teachings remain with us. Your voice remain eternally in the archives and libraries. Your scripts and writings remain indelible. Your memory remains the face of NTA Yola where a banner will always remind visitors of your constant and everlasting presence.
Rest in perfect peace Field Marshal of the pen profession. If the pen is mightier than the sword, then the battles you faught were definitely harder than the best fighters and therefore your rank is higher than the most gallant of fighters.