Sam Omatseye Biography, Education, Career, Controversies, And Net Worth

Sam Omatseye is a Nigerian Poet, Novelist, Playwright, and Journalist. He is a 2019 recipient of the National Productivity Order of Merit. 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, a political program that airs every Saturday on TVC. He was born on the 15th of June 1961 to Mr. Moses Omatseye and Mrs. Salome Omotemevo Omatseye, from Ugheli in Delta State. He married and was blessed with children.

1. Sam Omatseye Profile 2. Educational Background 3. Career 4. Controversies 5. Sam Omatseye Social Media Handles 6. Personal life 7. Sam Omatseye Net Worth

Sam Omatseye Profile

Name	Sam Omatseye
Real Name	Sam Oritsetimeyin Omatseye
Date of Birth	15 June 1961
Age	62
State of Origin	Delta State
Tribe	Urhobo
Nationality	Nigerian
Occupation	Nigerian Poet, Novelist, Playwright and Journalist.
Religion	Christian
Marital Status	Married
Net Worth	$600k
Copied from	contents101.com

Educational Background

Sam Omatseye attended Government College, Ughelli in Delta State from 1973 to 1979 for his secondary school education and he obtained his School West African School Certificate. He also attended the Federal School Of Arts And Science, Victoria Island, Lagos for his Higher school education. He went further to study history at the University of Ife Ibadan and obtained a Bachelor Of Arts Degree.

Career

Sam Omatseye taught English and Literature at the Aminu Kano Commercial College, Kano during his National Youth Service from 1985 to 1986. From 1987 to 1988 he worked as a Report-Researcher at the Newswatch Magazine and covered a variety of beats from Foreign Affairs to Culture.

In 1988 he had an assignment as a Staff Writer with the African Concord Magazine, and anchored stories about dictatorships and turbulence that characterized the Babangida Years. He became the Deputy Political Editor of the Concord Newspapers in 1989 with a specific assignment to help lead the coverage of the political transition program 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, of the Abuja Bureau of Concord Newspapers in 1993 while he covered the June 12 Election crisis.

He left town later that year after being subjected to military supervision from dawn to dusk. In 1995 he served as Editorial Page Editor, at Thisday Newspaper. He became Deputy Editor, of Sunday Concord in 1996 after The Concord Newspaper Group was unbanned. From 1998 to 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 of the Editorial Board of The Nation Newspapers. He oversees the Opinion Section of the newspaper and runs a weekly column, In Touch.

He has given lecture sessions several times at Nigerian universities, including Obafemi Awolowo University, University Of Ibadan, University Of Lagos, Etc. He was appointed a member of the Governing Council of 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 uncomfortable political program that airs every Saturday on TVC. Sam Omatseye is a Nigerian poet, novelist, playwright, and journalist. He is a 2019 recipient of the National Productivity Order of Merit. He won the Nigerian Media Merit Award in 1991 as Best Reporter for coverage of the military air crash in Ejigbo, Lagos.

He was beaten by soldiers for daring to go through a military convoy to capture the visual horror and drama of the tragedy. In 1992 he was the first-ever winner of the Gordon N. Fisher Fellowship for Journalists in The Commonwealth and was in a full academic year at the University of Toronto. In 1997 he won the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship.

Under the terms, he worked as a journalist with the Rocky Mountain News. He was not able to return to Nigeria because of the threats during the Abacha Years. He won the Association of Black Journalists Award for Feature Writing. He also co-won the prestigious Scripps Award Prize for Deadline Reporting. He was a finalist for The Denver Press Club Prize.

He has won the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA) for Columnist of The Year three times and was a finalist also three times. He also won the NMMA for a beat reporter. He won the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) four times for Informed Commentary.[19] In 2011, he became the first to win both NMMA and DAME in the same year. 

He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Academy Of Letters in 2015. In July 2019, Omatseye was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club International. The award was conferred on him by the District Governor, of the Rotary Club, Gbagada, Lagos, Kola Sodipo. And in November 2019, he received a national award, the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM).

According to the letter informing Omatseye of the award signed by Labour and Employment Minister Dr. Chris Ngige, “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR has approved the award of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award in recognition of his high productivity, hard work, and excellence. Sam Omatseye has published a good number of books, including:

• A Chronicle Foretold (Columns)

• My Name Is Okoro (Novels)

• Crocodile Girl (Novels)

• Mandela’s Bones and Other Poems (Poems)• Dear Baby Ramatu (Poems)

• Dear Baby Ramatu: Poem

• Tribe and Prejudice

• Lion Wind And Other Poems (Poems)

• In Touch, Journalism as National Narrative (Columns)

• Scented Offal (Poems)

• The Siege to mark Professor Wole Soyinka’s 80th birthday (Plays)

And many more.

Controversies

Sam Omatseye, chairman of the editorial board of The Nation, wrote an article titled ‘Obituary’ which was published in The Nation on August 1, 2022. Sam Omatseye’s family has appealed to the public not to be offended by the controversial article written by him. His article was a direct attack on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and his supporters. The journalist also received death threats over the article.

Sam Omatseye Social Media Handles

You can connect with Sam Omatseye on:

Facebook: Sam Omatseye

Twitter @samomatseye

Personal Life

Mrs. Salome Omotemevo Omatseye, the mother of the Chairman, of the Editorial Board of The Nation, Sam Omatseye, died on September 14, 2022, after a brief illness. She was 75 and was born in Emevo, Delta State, and is survived by seven children, which are Sam, Jonathan, Choice, Grace, Elizabeth, Mercy, and also Mr. Moses Omatseye, Mr. Sam Omatseye’s father. Sam Omatseye is married and blessed with adult children.

Sam Omatseye Net Worth

He is estimated to be worth over $600,000