Jackson David Oboth considers himself a down-to-earth individual who loves to live and let live. He loves nature so much that his best moments are spent sitting alone and watching the birds fly. That mesmerizes him so much. In moments like that, he never stops marveling at God’s power. He loves God and His creation and has for most of his life, tried to live in harmony with nature and God’s people.
What do you do for a living?
Currently, I juggle through a number of things. Primarily, I do Communications Consultancy which centers around creating strategic direction for my clients on how to create and maintain impactful visibility in terms of Brand recognition but also Image management. Secondly, I’m also a traditional businessman, trying my hand on Transport Business. During my free time, I help my wife run her drinks shop, as a customer, who loves enjoying what she sells.
Where did your love for journalism and corporate communication begin?
My love for journalism started way back when I was a little kid in Primary school. Whenever our English Teacher would give us an essay writing assignment, I would write about my small experiences with awesome descriptive prowess. The teacher would always retain my work to read to the class after marking our work. She would always pat me on the back and tell me, “Young man, you will one day make a great journalist”. By then I didn’t know what journalism was all about. I carried on with writing excellence through secondary until when I did Mass Communications at Makerere University and Uganda Management Institute.
What is your average day like?
Since the onset of COVID 19 my activities have significantly slowed down. My day starts with prayers to the Lord then I report to my balcony with my computer where I check out the day’s News sites with specific focus on alerts about my Clients. If there are any negative stories that are injurious to the reputation of my clients, I note them down and work out remedial measures before bringing my clients up to speed.
Also being in the Transport business, I work a lot with ordinary folks who speak only one language…Luganda. I receive a lot of calls from them reporting this and that. Some of the cases require my physical presence so I drive out to solve them. It’s always a busy day for me but at the end, after a hot meal with family and devotion, I thank God for the gift.
What makes you proud as a practicing communications professional?
Being able to earn the trust of your client is a very rewarding thing. There are quite a number of Communications professionals in town today but I pride myself in being one of the pioneers. In 1999 when most of today’s practitioners were still either at school or in the Newsrooms, I had already flipped the coin from active journalism into PR practice. Personally recruited and trained by MCL McCann Ericksson’s American PR Guru Mike Daugherty, I have had the privilege to work with almost all the major corporate entities in the East African region. That makes me feel very proud. I have helped build almost all the key brands in Uganda.
What is your understanding of travel and tourism?
Well, to me, with the onset of YouTube and other Social media products, Travel Tourism is becoming a way of life for many. Not only for experience and personal gratification, but also a hobby that puts food on many tables. Today there are myriads of YouTube channels on Tourism. It’s actually a source of employment for many today. I particularly cherish the fact that today, you don’t only travel to see the world, but you travel, share the world with other people and earn a living doing it. In the US and other developed countries, there are people who are Nomads, they sell off their homes and buy motorhomes and live their lives on the road, visiting one corner of the continent to the other, and sharing their experiences with their audiences. It has brought a whole new meaning of travel tourism from how we understood it before.
How can communication be fused with travel and tourism?
As Communicators we are now better placed to share our experiences in real time through YouTube Channels and other available channels. Today people don’t wait to watch documentaries about unique places around the world on their TV sets. The television sets are now on the palms of people’s hands. Communicators are making a kill with this technological advancement. There is a worldwide arena for communicators to do their things. While NTV or NBS or National Geographic will not employ you overnight to showcase your communications talent, YouTube today offers you a beckoning platform to display your creativity and excel. And travel tourism is one of the many streams to tap from.
Have you used your professional skills to enhance travel?
Not really but it’s something I’m pondering seriously. I started this interview with my confession of love for nature. Travel is one area I’m looking forward to engaging in a lot as I approach the evening of my life. As a journalist, I have to a certain extent shared my travel experiences with people and it’s something I look forward to continuing doing.
What has been your best travel moment?
One of my best travel moments was when I visited Grahams town in the western cape of South Africa. This is a unique mostly white town which also hosts the famous Rhodes University. En-route Grahams town, after stepping out of the connecting flight which landed at Port Elizabeth, we took the highway journey westwards in a very comfortable Tourist van. What interested me most was the farming trend along the way. The excellent Highways have frequent stop over points at the farm gates which are in the form of supermarkets. Here you get to see finished products which are not imported but baked directly from the farms. You enjoy freshly made chicken burgers from chicken farms in the backyard of the supermarket. I was particularly thrilled by these phenomena.
What made the experience of this destination unique and special?
On our way back at Oliver Tambo International Airport, seeing that our connecting flight back to Entebbe was five hours away, we decided to rent a car and tour the sprawling Jo’burg city. Boy oh boy did we make a bad calculation out of it/? We immensely enjoyed our experience that we forgot the check in time had arrived. When we got back to the airport, we were greeted with a shrilling voice on the loudspeakers calling out our names and giving us only five minutes to be onboard or we missed our flights to our own detriment. You should have seen how we raced up and down the elevators. What an experience. We found everyone on board and the look on the airhostess’s face was quite scary.
What makes or breaks your experience while on a travel excursion?
The most important thing that makes my travel excursion is the company of people I’m traveling with. Likeminded people create good experiences. I have been in the business of organizing travels for journalists within and outside the country. In most of these travels I have realized that the kind of people you travel with can make or break your experience. There are some people who are loners. As soon as you reach your destination, the next thing they look for is their rooms where they dive in and disappear from the world. What a bore. But there are the adventurous who will only sleep when they really have to.
What destinations are your bucket-list, and why?
I love water. This could be because I grew up in Entebbe, a town surrounded by the great Lake Victoria. So my bucket list destination would be the Florida Keys in the United States. Especially the Key West, where I can visit the Southern Most Point. I would then take a stroll around duval street and eat some Key Lime pie, conch fritters, and fresh seafood. I hear they organize annual Lobster fest during which the locals showcase their culinary prowess especially in preparing Lobster. Key West is also famous for the Sunset ceremony. An evening celebration at Mallory square where tourists gather at the seafront square to watch a huge orange ball (the sun) disappear in the sea. It’s rumored that the sun sleeps at Key West, in the southern United States. I still believe that God will grant me this one wish before I can close my eyes to rest with my ancestors in eternity.
What makes you proud of being a Ugandan?
The little things that we see and ignore in our everyday lives. Things such as the generosity of our lowly people. I have met lowly women, struggling in business, but will still throw for you an extra tomato when you buy from her stall. A restaurant woman filling your plate with all tribes of food but charges you under a dollar for it. These acts of sacrifice from our people make me very proud to be Ugandan.
What would you like to see done better in the local tourism sector?
I would like to see everyone getting involved, from the way we dress, the way we relate with strangers, the way we talk about our country can make or break us. This is our home. We need to be proud of it and let the world see. The government can play its role in creating a conducive atmosphere for tourists to come here but the ordinary person is key in making a difference.
What are those things you consider important and dear to you?
Family, friends, integrity but above all, a good relationship with God Almighty.
Who is David Jackson Oboth away from work?
A laid back person who sits at his balcony sipping herbal tea or coffee, and sometimes playing omweso with friends. I’m also a leader in my village here in Nakweru Gayaza, and I engage a lot with my community. They are one hell of progressive people and they have become part of my extended family. I’m also engaged in helping my kingdom set up a Radio station for the Jopadhola Community. I’m a member of the planning committee and these takes a bit of my time too.
