Sam Omatseye

Sam Omatseye is a Nigerian poet, novelist, playwright and journalist. Born on June 15, 1961, Sam Omatseye hails from Delta State of Nigeria. He is a 2019 recipient of the National Productivity Order of Merit. From 1987 – 1988 he worked as a Reporter-Researcher at the Newswatch Magazine, and covered a variety of beats from Foreign Affairs to Culture. In 1988 he had a stint as a Staff Writer with the African Concord Magazine, and anchored stories about tyrannies and turbulence that characterised the Babangida Years. He became the Deputy Political Editor of the Concord Newspapers in 1989 with specific assignment to help lead the coverage of the rigmarole of the political transition programme of the Babangida Years In 1990 he was selected by the United States Information Service to cover the off-year elections, and worked for six weeks in the country including an attachment with the Kansas City Star in Missouri. He was appointed Managing Editor, Abuja Bureau of the Concord Newspapers in 1993. He covered the June 12 Election crisis. He left town later that year after being subjected to military surveillance from dawn to dusk. In 1995 he served as Editorial Page Editor, Thisday Newspaper. He became Deputy Editor, Sunday Concord in 1996 after The Concord Newspaper Group was unbanned. From 1998 -2006 he taught Media and Journalism at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. He also taught classes and gave talks at the University of Colorado and the University Of Denver He also became a Technology journalist covering the wireless world in its bursting beginnings with RCR Wireless News From 2006 to the present, he has been Chairman, Editorial Board of The Nation Newspapers. He oversees the Opinion Section of the newspaper and runs a weekly column, In Touch. He has given talks several times in Nigerian universities, including Obafemi Awolowo University, University Of Ibadan, University Of Lagos Etc. He was appointed a member of the Governing Council of The Lagos State University. He has been a frequent commentator on television and radio shows on contemporary Nigerian issues. He hosted a television show, Standpoint, on TVC and currently hosts The Platform, an edgy political programme that airs every Saturday on TVC