“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more”….Shakespeare in MACBETH.
Peter is no more.
Emmanuel Bodemeh, aka Peter, TELL’s Director of Production, was a gentle giant of graphics. He and Levi Ogundina, his immediate boss then, were the mainframe of the House of TELL during the difficult moment of growing and the trying period of producing the magazine literally at gun point during the military era.
Gentle, soft spoken and cool headed, Bodemeh was the master of his art. Unfazed by the threat of the powers-that-be and stoutly committed to journalism of the KAMI- KAZE type then, he was always ready to risk his life for the magazine, like others. Days away from home and his family he was always in the “Bush Office” to make sure the magazine was designed the best way and out on time on the newsstands.
He loved the job. There was no doubting that. Graphics was his forte. Many learnt from him. An introvert like me, Bodemeh did not enjoy much of social life like a typical journalist. He was always to be seen at his corner thinking about the cover design for the next edition of the magazine.
Then, like a walking shadow, death crept in Wednesday night, March 25, to snatch away the gentle giant of TELL graphics.
What a pity!
It is another exit too many for the small TELL family. We shall all miss his professionalism, devotion to duty and commitment to the ethos and ideals of TELL.
Opilogue can never forget the role he played in graphically nurturing the strange but unique opinion in dialogue form and projecting it as a column the reader could hardly ignore.
He was a gentle giant of inspiration. We all learnt one or two things from the his “graphics brain”. The Graphics community will attest to this.
Adieu, Peter, the Great.
