Post a comment
The dead must be allowed to rest in peace—Philip Neville is no exception! Equally, no one should revictimise or dictate to the victims of his handicraft how they should react to news of his passing. That is simply double victimisation.
Neville was not my friend, but we knew and respected each other. The first time he called me was when I filed David Sengeh’s complaint against him at the IMC. He said to him that he’d admired my activism for so long and that he was shocked that I was the one filing against “a fellow activist cum journalist”.
I politely disagreed with him and told him that the contents of his publication against Sengeh would not pass for public-interest journalism and that they were utterly defamatory and his purported facts, outlandish. That was how I got into Neville’s bad books. Unfortunately, I went on to represent Grace Kargobai, Abdulrahman Mahdi and Raymond Kallon in their various complaints against him at the IMC. I sat by Grace as she narrated her ordeal wrought by Neville’s publications—she literally shook like a leaf in the gentle hands of an early morning breeze. Mahdi’s over 30 years of experience and professionalism as a banker was torn apart by publications by Standard Times which brought inevitable anguish to the extremely private Mahdi and his family. Not to mention the many recent vitriolic publications against Margaret Davies, the lady lawyer who accused her former boss of sexual harassment and workplace intimidation.
Few months ago, he ran frontpage publications against me in relation to the last Bar Association’s meeting which resulted into a melee. His reporter had reached out to me for my own side of the story which I graciously granted—not a whiff of my side was featured in his publications. I met him few days later along the corridors of the High Court in Freetown and simply smiled at him and told him to carry on the “good work”.
As an activist, I eschewed every temptation to take him to the cleaners—I know that part of my work is to resist distractions by negative criticisms and pejorative publications. Honestly, I’ve held no umbrage against him for those publications. That is why I’m sincerely sad stricken by his death especially the manner in which he met his eternal call. Neville may have grossly misapplied his gift in journalism, but he was hugely talented in his craft (but like very gift, one must exercise a discretion in its utility and Neville was not so well endowed with such discretion).
Neville was a well-known journalist and was loved and loathed in equal or unequal measure. While we must allow Neville to rest in peace, we must also permit victims of his terrific workmanship to dwell in peace. I will sincerely miss Philip for the good, bad and everything in-between which he did sincerely and otherwise in plying his journalistic trade. May his soul rest in peace and may all those who consider themselves, victims of his great and not-so-great craft continue to dwell in peace and forgiveness, Amen.
