thesisprojectsng

Post-independence media in Nigeria reflects the turbulence, optimism, authoritarian interruptions and democratic reconfigurations that have defined the nation since 1960. After independence, the press shifted from anti-colonial agitation to nation-building, ideological contestation, military resistance and later democratic consolidation. If the pre-independence press was a liberation drum, the post-independence press became both a watchdog and, at times, a battlefield especially under the military regimes. Within this landscape emerged influential titles that redefined professionalism, ownership patterns, editorial philosophy and mass appeal.   The Guardian Founded in 1983 by Alex Ibru and Stanley Macebuh, The Guardian quickly positioned itself as “the flagship of the Nigerian press.” Its emergence coincided with the end of the Second Republic and the onset of military rule under Muhammadu Buhari. Unlike many populist papers of the era, The Guardian targeted the intellectual elit...

Historical records show that indigenous newspapers started from Western Nigeria, particularly Badagry, the headquarters of Iwe Irohin. Gradually, the nationalist consciousness spread to the East and North with the publication of many newspapers by easterners and northerners. Some of these newspapers contributed immensely to the actualisation of Nigeria as a nation.   Gaskiya Tafi Kwabo and Citizen These two newspapers belonged to the northern-based political party the  Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC). They also emerged as rivals to the  Party newspapers established by the NCNC and Action Group.  Gaskiya Tafi kwabo an Hausa language newspaper was founded on 1st  January, 1939 by the Gaskiya Corporation which later added to its  stable, the Citizen, another weekly that (later) metamorphosed into the New Nigerian on 1st January, 1966. The New Nigerian was taken over  by the Federal Government alongside the Daily Times in 1975. The Northern Nigerian gover...

Most of the newspapers available during the colonial era were not published daily. There was a need to publish a newspaper that would inform the people of the daily events happening in the colonial era. The Daily Times was the answer to that challenge. The greater popularisation of the newspaper as a result of the political ferment of the early 20s and the significant expansion in advertisement patronage stimulated by post-war economy (that is after 1918) increased the attraction of the daily newspaper as a sound, commercial proposition. Some enthusiasm for daily newspapers was also provoked by Governor Clifford’s lament of the absence of such publications, in the country in his famous address to the Nigerian council in 1920. The absence of a daily press prevented the wide dissemination of news throughout the country which is customary in the West Indies, and which for example, is affected in Ceylon by the publication in Colombo of two morning and two evening newspapers on every weekda...

Nigeria Independence was made possible by nationalism. One of the men who fought seriously for the liberation of Nigeria from colonial influence and domination was Obafemi Awolowo. Though a lawyer politician, he made extensive use of the media to reposition the Western Nigeria. While Azikiwe dominated the Eastern press landscape, nationalist journalism in Western Nigeria found its champion in Obafemi Awolowo. In 1949, Awolowo established the Nigerian Tribune in Ibadan. Awolowo became the first premier of Western Nigeria in 1954 and, later, leader of opposition in the federal parliament. Chief Awolowo was the proprietor of the Nigerian Tribune, a newspaper, which became an important media organ of his political party.  This newspaper belonged to the Action Group party of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was also the proprietor of the newspaper. He launched the newspaper on November 1949, through its publisher, the African Press Limited. The vernacular associate of the p...

The story of Nigerian newspapers cannot be told without situating it within the ferment of anti-colonial resistance, elite awakening and the struggle to redefine the African image in the early twentieth century. While earlier publications such as Iwe Irohin (1859) and the Lagos Weekly Record laid foundations for indigenous press activism, the nationalist press reached a new ideological intensity in the hands of Nnamdi Azikiwe popularly known as Zik. His newspaper, the West African Pilot, transformed journalism from cautious commentary into a weapon of political mobilisation.   Establishment of the West African Pilot The West African Pilot was established on 22 November 1937 in Lagos not 1973 as is sometimes mistakenly stated. The year 1937 is historically significant because it marked a period when nationalist sentiments were rising but lacked a coordinated media voice. Azikiwe had returned from the United States, where he studied at institutions such as Howard University and Li...