WITH a modest staff strength of over 200, The Nation, a daily newspaper published in Lagos, hit the newsstands on July 31, 2006. It was a historic moment, not only for the newspaper industry in the country but also for members of staff who looked forward to the day with high expectations. For days, the leadership met with the editors to define what the paper should look like; what its cutting edge should be; how to enter the market with a bang and hold its readers captive; etc. Thereafter, preview editions were produced after which the ‘Ts’ were crossed and the ‘Is’ dotted. Then came the D- Day. Will the product meet the expectation of stakeholders? Will the market respond positively? Some newspapers had disappointed on their debut, wobbled and disappeared soon after. Mercifully, everything went well. The paper was an instant hit and has continued to wax stronger. Despite its relatively young age in the industry, The Nation today ranks among the leading newspapers in the country: authoritative, influential, credible, formidable, employing hundreds of thousands with hundreds of others sucking from its milk of success via its ancillary services.
From the outset, The Nation knew where it was headed. It set out to be a quality national newspaper providing credible and dependable information, beholden to no interest group but loyally and faithfully serving the nation. Its vision is simple but ambitious: to be Nigeria’s newspaper of first choice among discerning readers.
Its Mission is also clearly defined:
* To provide the general public with information they need to be free and self-governing in a democratic society.
* To vigorously champion a return to fundamental principles of federalism, believing that it is the arrangement that can best advance the multifarious interests of citizens in a country of many nations and faiths such as Nigeria.
* To serve as an independent monitor of power and hold those entrusted with its exercise accountable.
These laudable objectives have defined the paper and guided its editorial team as the publication addresses its target audience comprising the business and political elite; the affluent, the educated and those in leadership positions in all spheres of life; the upwardly mobile, policy makers.
Having begun on an impressive note, the feat needed to be sustained. To achieve this, the newspaper’s pioneer staff had many sleepless nights, working to make it highly competitive and a must-read. The efforts were handsomely rewarded. So receptive was the market that in its first year of operation, the newspaper recorded profit. This is rare in most businesses, let alone the journalism industry with all its attendant risks and volatility. Despite the challenges of the moment, that The Nation is still up and standing, and indeed not a pushover but a reference point in the industry, is a testimony to the doggedness of the management and staff, particularly the editorial leadership, many of them having joined the paper after various years of experience and accomplishments.
It could not have been otherwise for a newspaper that had at least five former editors at inception. These included Victor Ifijeh (former Managing Director and former Editor of ThisDay); Gbenga Omotoso (former Editor of The Guardian on Saturday and The Comet); Sam Omatseye (former Editor of ThisDay, The Saturday Paper); Soji Omotunde (former Editor of TimesWeek Magazine, African Concord), and Tunji Adegboyega (former Editor of The Punch). Other former editors : Kunle Fagbemi (now Adekunle Ade-Adeleye), former Editor, The Nigerian Economist; Olakunle Abimbola, former Editor, Policy Magazine; Yusuf Alli, former Editor, The Punch; Segun Ayobolu, former Editor, Sunday Times; Steve Osuji, former Editor, New Age; Festus Eriye, former Editor, National Interest, Dele Adeosun, former Editor, Sunday Punch and Dapo Olufade, former Editor, Sunday Vanguard, later joined the team. Of course, the paper has continued to attract other experienced journalists.
Talk of experienced and highly respected professionals, The Nation is not short of them. Talk of self- motivated professionals; they abound in The Nation. These crops of dedicated professionals have as their adviser the well- regarded scholar, columnist and editorial writer Professor Olatunji Dare. From his base in the United States, he would digest the paper online, commend well written stories, rebuke sloppiness and draw attention to gaps in stories.
As part of efforts to expand its operations and increase its revenue base, the paper found a yawning gap in sports reporting a few years back. It then came up with a sister publication, SportingLife, in May, 2009. The publication was a baby of circumstances. It began as an eight-page pull-out in the daily newspaper but when it was discovered that vendors were removing the section from the main paper and selling to readers, the management needed no one to tell it that the section was in hot demand. It seized the opportunity and decided to let the section stand on its own. Although there were initial hiccups, Ade Ojeikere, a veteran sports editor who is the brain behind its success has been able to make the paper the leader among its competitors. Not only is the sport paper satisfying the aspirations of its teeming readers, it is also a money-spinner for the organisation. Without doubt, SportingLife is Nigeria’s highest selling newspaper today.
With its headquarters on 27B, Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos, the paper, like its name implies, is the most national newspaper, with very strong presence in all the geo-political zones. It is thus the first on the newsstands and circulates same edition nationwide. This is made possible by the simultaneous printing that the paper maintains in three locations: Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. This, in turn, is also facilitated by the two sets of GOSS Community Web Press that the company has in Lagos, and one each in the other locations, apart from the Indian FAST 300 Web Press in Abuja and Port Harcourt. It also boasts some of the best pre-press facilities, including Heidelberg CTP machine and Kodak CTP machine in Lagos, as well as two Kodak CTPs each in both Abuja and Port Harcourt. As is evident, the paper’s unique strength includes its compact layout and colourful pages, products of the investments in some of these state-of-the-art facilities.
The company has invested in all of these for obvious reasons. First, it does not want a situation where breakdown of any equipment would ground its operations. Secondly, it also believes that it is not enough to give readers the best in terms of content alone, aesthetic also counts.
The investments have been worth it as they paved the way for the paper to be printed in multiple locations thereby deepening its market penetration at a time older publications were only entrenched in their immediate locations. As a matter of fact, some of the older brands that did not see the need for this before the advent of The Nation are now establishing printing presses in parts of the country, to close the gap in sales that simultaneous printing has created between them and The Nation.
Another major strength of the paper is the galaxy of brilliant and perceptive columnists that it parades daily, unarguably the best collection in the industry today. These include Tatalo Alamu, Palladium, Biodun Jeyifo, Ropo Sekoni, Sam Omatseye, Emeka Omeihe, Olatunji Dare, Mohammed Haruna, Tony Marinho, Dapo Fafowora and Gbenga Omotoso. Others are Gbogun Gboro, Jide Osuntokun, Jide Oluwajuyitan, Segun Gbadegesin, Louis Odion, Steve Osuji, Segun Ayobolu, Ade Ojeikere, Hannatu Musawa, among numerous others.
For good reasons, the paper has been a major critic of the erstwhile ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially the immediate past administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan. An unforgettable incident in the life of the newspaper happened in June 2014, barely six weeks to its eighth anniversary. The government, using soldiers and State Security Service (SSS) agents unleashed a major clampdown on the vocal private newspapers including The Nation, The Punch, Leadership, Daily Trust, Vanguard, National Mirror, Newswatch, Business Day, Complete Sports and Osun Defender, under the cover of fighting terrorism. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports: “Federal troops across Nigeria seized and destroyed newspaper deliveries at airports, commandeered newspaper vehicles along highways, seized control of distribution points in several cities, and confiscated newspapers from vendors. They also harassed and assaulted newspaper staff and took money from at least one.”
This was not unexpected; the 2015 general elections were approaching and the then president had little or nothing to show for his (then) four years in government. The Nation, naturally became one of the few newspapers that was consistently critical of his government. Like the typical old woman who would naturally feel uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb, the government became jittery and, rather than work on its performance, went after the critical media.” A commentator likened the incident to Nigeria “slowly edging back to the dark days of military dictatorship.” Events leading to the last General Elections and its outcome have vindicated the papers. Today, those papers are still alive; but the Jonathan government has become history.
However, in a belated show of remorse, the government later turned round to ‘compensate’ the newspapers. Unfortunately, The Nation, like most of the other newspapers that took the money (compensation) for the disruption of their business activities for about five days eventually returned the money when it was discovered that it came from the ‘forbidden fruit’ that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was dispensing, following the probe of the Dasuki arms deals.
But the paper has since put the event behind it. That is the way it should be for a newspaper that has been winning awards, local and international, since its inception. Its reporters and columnists have also proved that they are a force to reckon with, with their incisive write-ups. All these are eloquent testimonies to their versatility and industry which have earned the paper its pride of place among its competitors. If The Nation could do all these within a period of 10 years, it simply tells us that age has nothing to do with excellence in the industry.
But this should not be taken to mean that newspapers have not been endangered species, sort of, in the country. The best way to find out is check the number of titles that have come and gone in the last 15 years, despite the massive injection of funds into some of them. Again, the import here is that whether a newspaper survives or dies is not necessarily a function of how much is pumped into it; even though it is important to adequately fund it. First and foremost, the editorial direction must be right and clear and there must be the appropriate managers to drive the editorial dream. Whilst not necessarily gloating over the demise of these papers because this is a monumental loss to the journalism profession (the more the merrier), we must emphasise this point because it is tough out there, particularly in the newspaper industry; with the coming up of many online platforms that are threatening menacingly to take the place of the traditional newspapers.
As a result, many newspapers are beginning to take their online platforms more seriously. The Nation is not left out. In the last 10 years, the paper has been active online through its website, www.staging.thenationonlineng.net launched at inception, and other social media platforms. It is presently being driven by Lekan Otufodunrin. With round-the-clock updates of breaking news and other content, the website is among the top three newspaper websites in the country. Its ambition is to be the leader on the newspaper websites. The electronic version of the print edition is also available for download along with a video channel.
Although the journalist is the organisation’s raison d’être, it is important to mention the contributions of some other sections involved in the business, without which the story is incomplete. One of these is the Accounts and Admin Department. At the head is the Executive Director Finance/Admin, Ade Odunewu FCA, a veteran chartered accountant who has been in charge of the company’s finances since inception. Closely linked with the accounts is the Audit Department. Its pioneer head was Toke Folorunsho but the section is now under the headship of Sunday Adeleke. If the accounts section has been doing a good work bringing in the money, the audit too has been playing its role of ensuring probity and accountability within the system. In the Admin Department is Folake Adeoye, the Legal Admin and Personnel Manager, who has been seeing to the day-to-day administrative and personnel issues. We also have Robinson Osirike, Advert Manager and Bello Aderibigbe, Acting Sales Manager. There is also Meekness Bolarinwa who heads both the IT and Pre-press units; Chikaodi Udensi, press manager and a host of others in the transport unit, among others. All of them have contributed their parts to The Nation’s success story.
Kudos must go to the management, staff and the board of directors, led by Mr. Wale Edun, a former commissioner for finance in Lagos State, for the untiring efforts and sacrifices they have all made to keep the paper’s flag flying. In order to boost staff morale, the company bought fleets of Toyota car brands for its staff a few years ago. It has replaced them for some members of staff and has added some other welfare benefits. Like Oliver Twist, these, to members of staff, can always be improved upon. It has also renovated its head office in Lagos as well as other major outstations to make them more befitting.
What the instant success of The Nation has done is to prove wrong the school of thought that believed (and probably still believes) the country’s newspaper market was already saturated as at the time the paper was about making its debut. If a newspaper gives readers what they want, and in the most professional manner; not even the sky is its limit. That is the point that The Nation has made, and poignantly too.
Newspapers have four basic functions, which explain why people read them. These are: (a) to inform, (b) to interpret the news, (c) provide a service to readers and (d), to entertain. To the extent that The Nation has been able to withstand the shocks and other vicissitudes of the economy and the industry in the last decade, to be sitting comfortably and majestically among the top three, the paper has certainly come of age. It must have performed these functions as professionally as it could. Of course, there will always be room for improvement.
Happy 10th anniversary to The Nation; a paper that has continued to thrive on “Truth in defence of freedom.”
