The curtain falls today, 17 July 2025, on JUNE 12 HONOURS… KNOCKS ON BAYO ONANUGA & CO, ALEX IBRU, a three-part series begun on 03 July 2025 and continued on 10 July 2025. As it was suggested in the second part of the series, this one may be entitled… A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GUARDIAN. The series appears in the context of wether BAYO ONANUGA, (CON), Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Owei Lakemfa (CON), Kayode Komolafe (CON) and Mr Alex Ibru (CON), Chairman of the Board of THE GUARDIAN newspaper and its Publisher, deserved places given to them by the President on the 12 June 2025 DEMOCRACY HONOURS ROLL. Onanuga, Lakemfa and Komolafe were members of the editorial staff of THE GUARDIAN when I was either The Editor or the Director of Publications/ Editor in- Chief. Mr Alex Ibru was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Publisher of the newspaper. There were no doubts in the Press, especially among fellow Journalists, that Honours were misplaced in respect of two other GUARDIAN men, Dr Olatunji Dare, Chairman of the Editorial Board cum Editorial Page Editor, and Dr Edwin Madunagu, Editorial Board member. I wondered why another member of the Board, Sully Abu, did not make the roll. As for Mr Alex Ibru, there was a division within the Guardian and in the Pro-Democracy groups about whether he deserved the honour. In the last edition, I tried to figure out why he made the list, suggesting, as well, why some of the objectors thought he did not belong to the ranks of the heros and heroines. Their arguments center on what may be termed …A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GUARDIAN.
“ A BATTLE” in this context implies that there may have been many “battles for The soul of The GUARDIAN… WHAT THE GUARDIAN STANDS FOR”. As much as it was possible, the founding Editors of this newspaper which from its first day on the news-stand easily became THE FLAGSHIP OF THE NIGERIAN PRESS couched what the newspaper was to represent in FOUR simple Words… CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH. It was a powerful SPIRITUAL statement which many of them, though prolific writers, perceived or conceptulised only at the material or INTELLECTUAL level. It was an extract from a statement by UTHMAN DAN FODIO, leader of the JIHADIST movement which stormed Northern Nigeria in February 1804 and captured several Hausa Kingdoms, including Kebbi, Kastina, Kano e.t.c in a few years before heading for Yorubaland in the South-Western region but was halted at Oshogbo and Ilorin. Ilorin fell later because of a palace coup of the defending army general against his own people. DAN FODIO had said “ Conscience IS AN OPEN WOUND…ONLY TRUTH CAN HEAL IT!
“ A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GUARDIAN” was set against whether the LIGHT seeking guardian of the nation’s soul should capitulate to a DARKNESS-invoking Gen. Sanni Abacha.Two words stood out as STAFF and TORSH for those editorial warriors against guns and bombs who had not permitted fear of the beast or dragon and consideration of bread and butter to dim, darken or entomb their CONSCIENCE and the RECOGNITION OF TRUTH. Of course, these two words were CONSCIENCE and TRUTH.
“A BATTLE” presupposes that there were many “battles” to refocus The Guardian on “ CONSCIENCE” and “TRUTH”.The trouble, always, was that all of us, being different persons, had naturally different understanding and views of these words, while, understandably, they meant nothing at all to some others. I speak for myself, Femi Kusa, and I like to believe, Lade Bonuola, Managing Director. He and I came to THE GUARDIAN from spiritual backgrounds. These backgrounds recognised the purpose of human existence on Earth was to honour the Almighty Creator Who Graciously granted human kind blessings of conscious existence for UNCONDITIONAL FULFILMENT OF HIS WILL. Do we not in THE LORD’S PRAYER pledge that…THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN after beseeching Him that… “ THY KINGDOM COME”? On Earth, we are a trioka of SPIRIT, SOUL and EARTH BODY. We earth men and earth women are human spirits developed from spirits kernels or sparks from out of the Radiations of GOD, THE LIGHT. In our wandering through the Universe and Earth to develop our spirit kernels and become human beings for re-admission to Paradise, our origin, we acquired covering of those spheres of existence which, together with the Spirit kernels, many persons call THE SOUL. With the earth convering on earth, we become EARTH- MEN and EARTH-WOMEN. On earth, we are not disconnected from our Paradise. Through a A LONG CHAIN from here, SPIRIT GUIDES and HELPERS often mistakenly called GUARDIAN ANGEL always speaks to our spirits on earth. We called their voice “our inner voice” or Conscience or those “ first impressions” about anything which we know is always right. The intellect is the earthly tool of the human spirit which fashions the messages or the inner voice of the spirit to earthly activities which nurture and protect us.
The trouble with many earth-men and earth-women is that they have submitted the thrones of their spirits, the Temples of God in them, to the earthly-intellect which, bound to earthly confines of time and space, does not recognise Paradise and God. Isnt this why we are admonished that …GOD IS SPIRIT, WHOEVER WILL WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH? The battle of THE GUARDIAN against Gen. Abacha was waged in the Light of conscience and Truth against the Darkness and Its minions.
From Daily Times
Lade Bonuola and I came to the GUARDIAN from THE DAILY TIMES, which became professionally derilict after Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, as Military Head of State, irreverently took it over from its private owners and used it to fester needs of his government. Professionalism was going out of the window. Some journalists, especially those who were God fearing, were bound, stagnated in their careers, demoted or fired. Lade Bonuola was demoted. He went to court, but the case was toppled. Mr Martin Iroabuchi who was made to succeed the principled Prince Tony Momoh submitted for vetting by persons unknown to the newspaper reports I edited, their headlines and my page designs. I would give him fake dumies and copies and send the originals to the works. The News Editor, Felix Odiari, who ought to not have access to my work as Production Editor, would complain to Iroabuchi. By next morning, I would see in the paper reports I did not vet for publication. Martin Iroabuchi belonged to the M.K.O. Abiola’s version of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) while Odiari belonged to the Umaru Dikko segment of the party. The Chief Reporter, Odafe (formerly James) Othohiwa, belonged to Bamanga Tukur’s group. An Advertisement professional was brought in to manage Editorial personnel! The Daily Times newspaper had become a drunken newspaper. Political money freely flowed in the newsroom. This was not a question of “brown envelopes”. When reportorial agents of the politicians returned to the office from their beats, they brazenly deposited money on the desks of reporters and Editors who were willing collaborators.
However, just when the Darkness thought it had held us down, light shone through the dark veils. Some newspapers accused Olorogun Michael Ibru’s company of importing some expired products. The family denied the claims, but did not receive fair hearing in the Press. So, Mr Alex Ibru decided to set up a newspaper. His goal was a light weight newspaper, something like a gossip channels, with which the Ibru family could always defend itself. He did not back gain for a top ranking QUALITY NEWSPAPER which his dream, modulated by other dreams brought about for Nigeria. He reached out to his senior at Ibadan Grammar School, who was brought to the Daily Times as a sole administrator by Gen. Obasanjo. That IGS senior was Dr Dele Cole who brought along to Daily Times his friend, Dr Stanley Macebuh. Both were not journalists. Along the line, My first editor, Chief Segun Osoba, got into the picture. Our professional relationships were good. He had wanted me after youth service in 1978 to edit his Abeokuta- based newspaper, THE MACHETE. He called Lade Bonuola to the Guardian, and Lade Bonuola called me to be his deputy. We were happy to go, promising that we would teach Daily Times a professional lesson. It was then still “the biggest daily sale” newspaper “ South of the Sahara”, as it branded itself. The lesson was to professionally overtake it on circulation and advertisements. We achieved our dreams in a few years, and Daily Times became a newspaper carcass. My pre-debut duty for THE GUARDIAN was to develop an editorial reporting strategy that would immediately make us the market leader. The second task was to make it the most successful in advertising and circulation income. Allied to this was the responsibility to train young men and women who had never seen the inside of a newspaper house to become first-rate reporters within three months of their employment. Those young men and women who slept several days on their desks in the office with us their bosses may now know where we were coming from and “ WHAT THE GUARDIAN STAND FOR” which was expressly stated in writing…it holds allegiance to no person, group, tribe, religion, government e.t.c but defend only, THE TRUTH always. In the matter of THE GUARDIAN’s reactions and responses to Gen. Abacha, did the newspaper become decadent like the DAILY TIMES or nearly so?This is why A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GUARDIAN trailed President Tinubu’s inclusion of Mr Alex Ibru in the 12 June 2025 DEMORACY HONOURS ROLL.
Abacha, Alex Ibru And The Guardian
(The third part of these series continues from where the curtain dropped on the second part i.e Mr Alex Ibru proposing that Femi Kusa take over Lade Bonuola’s job as Managing Director because he disagreed that THE GUARDIAN Editors go to beg Gen. Abacha for opposing him. Femi Kusa rejected the offer. Mr Alex Ibru howled on Femi Kusa, accusing him of ingratitude for making him Editor against all odds. Femi Kusa retorted that he did not beg to become Editor and that, in any case, he inherited a newspaper about 7 million naira in the red which he turned around in the first year of his Editorship, posting more than 10 million naira profit. THE STORY OF THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GUARDIAN continues…).
Mr Alex Ibru knew that the first five years of THE GUARDIAN (1983-1988) were unprofitable years, according to the books. In my view on becoming Editor in 1988, that was because the Guardian was”too hard”or “ too academic”. What I did was an UPBUILDING. I destroyed or pulled down nothing which existed, except to move the OPINION PAGES, which were the two center pages inward, thereby subordinating them to pull-outs targeted at the business communities. The newspaper is a social institution, no doubt, but can it survive without money? Besides, news comes before OPINION. It is on the basis of NEWS that COMMENTS are made. That means NEWS is the PROGENITOR of OPINION. Isn’t this why a newspaper is called a newspaper and not an opinion paper? I always discussed my plans with Mr Alex Ibru, and, in fairness to him, he gave me 100 percent approvals. My plans was to make every day a unique day for the business community by giving them their own newspaper within THE GUARDIAN . This made THE GUARDIAN to become the FIRST COMPARMENTALISED NEWSPAPER in Nigeria, beginning with PROPERTY on Monday, EXECUTIVE JOBS and MANAGEMENT on Tuesdays, FINANCE on Wednesday, NATURAL HEALTH on Thurdays with ELIZABETH KAFARU COLUMN. There were other subjects on Fridays and Saturday. I even gave Mr Alex Ibru a blue print for the next ten years in which every day of the week would have more than two or three market niches. That period was the begining of the employment and editorial training of professionals for our various editorial niches. PAUL OKUNNOLA came from Ife with a Master’s degree in Architecture to man the PROPERTY pages on Monday. Two of his five-member team included Timiyin, an estate management graduate and a quantity surveying graduate. I could summon FRED AGBAJE, a Barrister, under thirty minutes notice to the office for a front-page analysis on a major news-break. His wife, also, a Barrister, came to fight me in the office, alleging that I was exploiting the skills of her husband to grow THE GUARDIAN. But the tables soon turned, and she came on her knees full on the ground, to apologise. That was when FRED AGBAJE did the analysis on why SAVANNAH BANK Lost the case in CHRIS AJILO Vs SAVANNAH BANK, an epic case then. CHRIS AJILO borrowed money from SAVANNAH BANK , using his property as COLLATERAL. When he could not pay, SAVANNAH BANK tried to take possession of the property. CHRIS AJILO went to court, saying the COLLATERAl did not have THE GOVERNOR’S CONSENT! Indeed, all landed property to be used as collateral must have the GOVERNOR’S CONSENT. SAVANNAH BANK was CARELESS and, so, lost the case. This analysis gave FRED AGBAJE visibility abroad, and some companies begun to invite him abroad for consultation. His wife was bowled over and came to recognise that NOT EVERYTHING was MONEY. This much and more I demonstrated to Mr Alex Ibru, and couldn’t understand why he could think I had no gut because I was passionate with my work, arriving the office early by 11.am and leaving later at about 14 or 15 hours later at about 2a.m, long after he had been with his wife and family!
I was glad I talked down on MONEY. He flared up. Mr Ososame counselled that we go for lunch and return when we were calm. During lunch, Mr Alex Ibru was anything but calmer. He called Nick IDUWE and told him that , on resumption of the meeting, he would make ANDY AKPORUGO Managing Director of THE GUARDIAN. I do not wish to talk about ANDY AKPORUGO except to say that Lade Bonuola got Mr Alex Ibru to rehabilitate him at The Guardian, reporting to me as senior foreign correspondent, after he was excused from the DAILY TIMES where he was our senior, but not our boss.
When AKPORUGO disliked reporting to his professional junior (by age in the trade and not by achievements), he approached Mr Alex Ibru who carved out AFRICAN GUARDIAN MAGAZINE for him to compete with NEWS WATCH, AFRICAN CONCORD, TELL, NEWS BREED Magazines and PRESIDENT magazines. African Guardian drained financial resources of THE GUARDIAN, and Mr Alex Ibru asked Andy Akporugo to go. His Editors and reporters sourced from THE GUARDIAN had been resigning. Lade Bonuola again played with fire, literally speaking, when he persuaded Mr Alex Ibru to find something for Andy AKPORUGO to do in his office to avoid backlashes in the village because they were cousins. Andy AKPORUGO, who always described himself as a STUDENT OF POWER, used this opportunity to literally set The Guardian on ethnic fire, often acting in the name of Mr Alex Ibru or of the “ family” interests without Mr Alex Ibru’s authorisation. He would rouse Urhobo members of staff to wonder if they ever saw a Yoruba company in which an Urhobo was Managing Director. He accused me of YORUBALISING the newsroom. Three times or so, Mr Alex Ibru called for staff audit around their ethnic origins. The results showed that Ibos took slightly more than half of the slots while Yorubas and Urhobos shared the rest. Nevertheless, Andy Akporugo had increasingly taken possession of Mr Alex Ibru, members of the Executive Board who were privy to my last conversion with Mr Alex Ibru following his receipt of my letter of retirement which was followed days after by that of Lade Bonuola. I told him Andy AKPORUGO was the problem of The GUARDIAN. Did he not once tell Dr Tunji Dare that Mr Alex Ibru sent him to demand that Dr. Dare relinquish one of his offices… Chairman of The Editorial Board and Editorial Page Editor? Did Dr Dare not almost respond untill Lade Bonuola gave him assurances only he, the Managing Director, could make such a demand on the instruction of the Publisher? This was the man Mr Ibru wanted to succeed Lade Bonuola as Managing Director simply because he thought the Guardian was sympathetic to HUMAN RIGHTS and NADECO. I have profiled the foregoing event to paint a picture to presage a picture of what eventually happened when we reconvened from lunch … and when we met in Abuja with ABACHA days after.
• The remainder of these three-part article will be published in a fuller version of this one on my facebook page @ John Olufemi Kusa.
