The Nigerian Tribune office in Isheri, on the Lagos-Ibadan highway, will be commissioned tomorrow, November 16 – exactly a year to the day sod turning of the project took place.
November 16 is significant to the history of Nigerian Tribune, being the day it came into existence in 1949. This year thus marks the 70th anniversary of Nigeria’s oldest surviving private newspaper.
Apart from the commissioning of the Tribune House on November 16, 15 illustrious Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in their fields will be given awards on December 10 at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
A week later, specifically on December 17, the anniversary train will move to Ibadan, where the launching of a book, on “seventy years of progressive journalism” will be held.
The launching will come with presentation of awards to deserving old and current members of staff of the Nigerian Tribune.
Meanwhile, former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has praised the management and staff of the African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles, for their role in ensuring the transformation of Nigeria and enhancement of democracy in the country.
Chief Obasanjo gave the commendation in a letter sent to the ANN Plc on the 70th anniversary of the Nigerian Tribune.
“I must emphasise that development cannot take place unless the people are sufficiently enlightened and effectively mobilised to see themselves as part of the process. This is where the role of the media, particularly the Nigerian Tribune cannot be overemphasised,” Obasanjo said.
The maiden edition of the Nigerian Tribune newspaper was published on November 16, 1949 and since that publication which had as its lead story, “CHEMISTS PROTEST,” it has been no looking back till today.
For a Nigerian media house that has 70-year history behind it, the story definitely is a mixed bag. However, the resilient spirit that has sustained the title separates it from its contemporaries which have fallen by the wayside.
Founded by the great Nigerian nationalist leader and politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the first copy of the Nigerian Tribune came out of the press at exactly 1.25 a.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 1949 at its rented office in Yemetu Adeoyo area of Ibadan. That “office,” a two-storey residential building belonging to Alhaji Ikumogunniyi, was the Nigerian Tribune’s abode for 28 years before the newspaper moved to its permanent site at the Imalefalafia area of Ibadan in 1977.
ALSO READ: World Diabetes Day: Patients decry high cost of medication, treatment
As the founder, Chief Awolowo was also the newspaper’s first director. Other directors at inauguration were Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, the then Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi; Mr Rabiu Jagun and Mr Johnson Omisore. The newspaper’s first legal adviser was Mr Abiodun Akerele.
Following the emergence of Chief Awolowo as the Premier of the Western Region in 1959, Chief (Mrs) Awolowo stepped in as the chaiman and she held the position until her demise on September 19, 2015.
Nigerian Tribune has had 20 title editors since inception. Mr Henry Akin Allen, a former Assistant Editor with Daily Times, who also practised journalism with reputable newspapers in Europe and America, took delivery of the Nigerian Tribune on November 16, 1949 as its first editor.
When Nigerian Tribune started out in 1949, it was being published by the African Press of Nigeria Ltd, but over the years, it metamorphosed into the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc (which remains the nomenclature till today) with more titles added to its stable. While titles like Aura Magazine and Iroyin Yoruba have been rested, Nigerian Tribune now has sister newspapers like Saturday Tribune and Sunday Tribune. The all-sport paper Sporting Tribune has been rebranded under a new title – Vintage Sports – now embedded in the Saturday Tribune, to further enrich the title.
Nigerian Tribune’s orientation, defined on its first day of existence foretold of a probable ‘unpleasant’ ride it would have anytime authorities in the Nigerian state choose to be high-handed and follow the unpopular path. Chief Awolowo, while restating the objective of the paper on its 21st anniversary in 1970, had said: “The Nigerian Tribune was founded with one and only one aim in view: to champion fearlessly the course of justice and fair-play in every sphere of our public life.”
In order to fight and win the war against dictatorial tendencies, the sage had emphasised that the Nigerian Tribune would possess “a tongue and pen that will be careless of what the opponents might say or how they might feel, and will have enough courage to call hypocrisy, humbug, and tyranny by their true names. Such a tongue, such a pen, will mortify the proud and provoke despotism to repent its ways.” These were the exact words of Papa Awolowo in the first offering of the Nigerian Tribune 70 years ago.
So like the proverbial man who brings home ant-infested faggots, the Nigerian Tribune has, over the years, attracted the lizards of despotic authorities when its reportage is considered putrid and very offensive. The period considered to be the most challenging for Nigerian Tribune before the Second Republic was between 1962 and 1965, when all weapons in the armoury of tyrannical power were employed against it. It was the time Chief Awolowo was arrested and charged with trumped up charges of treasonable felony. Vehicles belonging to the African Press of Nigeria Ltd were burnt while the newspaper had to be printing in a hideout.
But the Nigerian Tribune’s forthrightness in being the pulse of the common man has never gone unnoticed as recognised local and international institutions have rewarded the newspaper’s reporters who have dedicated themselves to the realisation of a dream egalitarian society by the stories they churn out day in day out. Under the belts of a vast number of Nigerian Tribune journalists are professional awards like the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA), Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME), CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Award, among others.