How MTN MIP made my lifelong dream of going to Pan-Atlantic University come true – By Michael Orodare
“The School of Media and Communication of Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) is the best place to study media and communication in this country, Michael! Whatever you do, make sure you take a programme there,” Johnpaul Akinduro always told me circa 2013.
“What’s the big deal about the school? Stop overhyping them,” I would always tell him and disregard what I presumed was an over-bloated claim. But his words made me start paying attention to the Pan-Atlantic University in 2013, the same year the institution changed its name from Pan-African University to Pan-Atlantic University.
Johnpaul Akinduro (now Special Adviser on Media to former Governor Olusegun Mimiko), one of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with, had just been admitted to a Postgraduate programme at the School of Media and Communication in 2013 when he started telling me about PAU. We were both on the media team of Governor Mimiko of Ondo state at that time.
JP, as we call him, would always come back to Akure in Ondo State after his class in Lagos to share his class experience with me; we would discuss his assignments, projects and other class tasks. We talked about the books his lecturers had recommended for the class, and I enjoyed every bit of the conversation and brainstorming. JP did a good job convincing me to fall in love with PAU, and my interest in the school started growing. I wanted to go to PAU too.
Between 2013 and 2014, I would visit the school’s website, checking what course I could take to hone my media skills, but I couldn’t take any at that time. A few years later, the dream gradually fizzled out, and I moved on to pursue other things. But my admiration for the school never dropped.
When MTN Nigeria announced in April 2022 that it was searching for 20 media practitioners for its first Media Innovation Programme (MIP) at the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), it sounded like the opportunity to actualise the dream that had been put to sleep for nine years.
I was convinced nobody could be more interested in this training than me. I’m very excited about learning, but I’ve never felt this level of anticipation and excitement about learning. When the mail announcing my selection came in later in May. It was a piece of cheery news. At last, I’ll be going to the School of Media and Communication at PAU after nine years of dreaming.
“Is this the PAU JP always talked about?” I asked myself when I got to the PAU campus along the Lekki-Epe expressway in Lagos, on Monday, May 23, 2022, for the first MIP class. It was my first class on the campus.
The first week at PAU seemed like I’d never been to a classroom. From the welcome address of the Dean of the School of Media and Communication, Dr Mike Okolo (now late), the orientation other faculty members like Dr Isaac Ezechukwu and lectures from the facilitators – Prof Biakolo Emevwo, Prof. Juan Elegido, Dr. Chike Mgbeadichie, Dr. Ruth Oji, among others, the classes are gradually shaping me into an entirely different media personality. It’s a new phase of my career, and I’m open to exploring all the learnings and opportunities that come with this.
Has it been stressful? Yes! Just as JP described it nine years ago. So I am not disappointed.
Has it been worthwhile? Definitely, beyond my expectations. They are hands-on practical lectures from industry leaders. From a former Bank MD teaching you management principles to a publisher of one of Nigeria’s leading news platforms sharing his practical experience of surviving different storms that threatened the survival of his business in the formative days and how the company has remained relevant in an ever-changing media world, the training has been explosive.
I’ve never had the opportunity to be tutored in this kind of atmosphere. MTN made this happen.
In just one week, the PAU experience is shaping me in a way that no other institution I’ve been to in the past has ever done, with an entirely different perspective about the changing media space.
After the first week of the six-week-long training spread over six months, I had a startling understanding of what made PAU different and why it stands out. JP was right, after all.
It took me nine years to achieve the dream. I’m convinced I had to justify my right to be here and prove that the dream is not a ruse.
I consider my selection as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. One week into the training, PAU has proven to be a wonderful place to learn, just as I’ve heard from those who have been here before me, and I’m overjoyed that MTN made it happen. I can’t wait to share weekly updates from the training.
