He may have been provocative at times and ruffled a number of feathers, but as he hosted his latest program on TV6 Morning Edition yesterday, Fazeer Mohammed emphasized that he never compromised in his pursuit of the truth about Trinidad and Tobago.
Mohammed has hosted the popular early morning talk show since 2010, where leaders, politicians, analysts, artists and the host’s beloved game of cricket were given a forum to speak or respond to the national community.
As he began his final two hours on air at 6am, Mohammed was surprised to be interrupted by a video of his first in-country introduction as host.
He expressed his surprise and mocked his first-year attire, saying: “Look at that fool in the shirt and tie.”
He later became himself and didn’t conform to anyone else’s standards, Mohammed said.
Mohammed recalled that he would have made more of a fuss in earlier days about clothing and sets, such as choosing the right shirt color.
He leaves the show at the age of 57 and turns 58 in January.
He also joked about his love of blue plumbago flowers and that he would often steal them from a certain location, but the plants had since been cut down.
Mohammed thanked his wife, his “better half”, and said she had helped keep him on track and “hit” him when needed.
Mohamed, in his inimitable style, even “thanked” the United National Congress (UNC) for his “subtle arrogance that got me out of CNMG”, now TTT, which took him to TV6.
He was referring to his departure from the state television station, while the People’s Partnership was in power, by the then Caribbean New Media Group, where his sacking in 2010 was questioned.
Mohammed was then asked to host TV6’s morning edition and was released yesterday thanks to his producers and the Caribbean Communications Network (CCN), which includes Trinidad Express Newspapers Ltd.
He also noted that after the firing, his CNMG colleague, Colleen Holder, had resigned in protest.
Mohammed called Holder “courageous” and said that had it been the other way around, he would have remained at CNMG “collecting the money”.
Among those to thank Mohammed for his contribution were former education minister Anthony Garcia and businessman Jai Leladharsingh, who called the former presenter “a fair journalist” and “a champion of this country”.
Leladharsingh said Muhammad had highlighted issues and fought for the people.
Several callers referred to Muhammad as a “spokesman for the people,” including political activist Wendell Eversley.
Mohammed recalled that among his first interviews was lawyer Dana Seetahal, who was shot and killed while driving home one night in 2014.
Mohammed said he was “intimidated” by Seetahal and worried about phrasing his questions correctly, as the renowned senior adviser had a way of being non-nonsense.
In retirement from Morning Edition, Mohammed said he hoped to spend more time with his plants, growing flowers and fruits such as sugar apples, while he also hoped to attract hummingbirds to his yard.
He ended his segment with a poetic reading of the lyrics to We Jammin’ Still, from Ultimate Rejects, smiling as he read “just keep dem and wuk dem.”
