About 52 years ago, Chief Obafemi Awolowo recalled that some individuals had expressed reservations on his intention to float the Tribune newspaper. They were apprehensive about the viability of such a venture following the failure of similar enterprises by other interests. But as a man known for his Midas touch, he and Mama HID Awolowo believed they had laid their hands on the plough. There was no looking back. He girded his loins and took a big plunge into the newspaper industry as a publisher.
This was how Papa Awo captured the journey into the industry: “When preparations were actively underway for the publication of the Nigerian Tribune in 1949, there were many people who predicted that the paper would not live. Some of these people were well-meaning and had spoken from their experience of newspaper failures in Nigeria; and to be quite candid, the list of newspaper casualties was already a long one. It has grown much longer ever since. Besides, the competition from older and then existing papers was so strong that a newcomer from the provinces had very little chance of survival. Others had made their prediction out of sheer ill will. In spite, however, of all the discouraging prognostications, my wife and I, together with a few trusting friends went ahead, in faith with our plan. And so, on 16 November, 1949, the Nigerian Tribune was born.”
Awo did not rule out the possibility of the challenges often associated with nurturing a new enterprise through infancy to maturity. He was prepared to brace the odds, which included persecution from the Establishment. However, the resilience, candour and sacrifices of the pioneering team began to pay off; Tribune became a reference material and the toast of readers. Again, Awo reflected on some of the landmines that the new publication had to contend with thus: “From the moment of its birth, the paper faced many difficulties. Its life was threatened both by competitors and the powers that be. The climax of persecution was reached in the four years before 1966, when all the known weapons in the armoury of tyrannical power were employed against the paper. But it survived them all. So much so that today the paper has not only come of age, but also now has greater prospects for continued existence than it ever had….”
A major strength of the paper was the mission statement enunciated by the initiator. Awo said the Nigerian Tribune has the sole mission to “champion fearlessly the cause of justice and fair play in every sphere” of public life. Therefore, he observed that the deep affection readers have for it, coupled with the confidence the common man has in Tribune’s forthrightness, and courage for truth, are eloquent testimony to the faithfulness with which the Tribune has over the years, fulfilled its destined role. The vision of Awolowo, achievements of the Tribune and the public perception of the Nigerian Tribune unarguably resonate with the theory of the Canadian Communication philosopher, Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message. Readers, scholars and other professionals attach much reverence and credibility to the contents of the Tribune. Its publications are considered as reference items as based on factual reporting and data. After all, the Marshall McLuhan theory underlines the medium through which a message is conveyed has a far-reaching effect and impact on the subconscious of man and the society.
The story of the Nigerian Tribune at 75 is epochal. Its trajectory is akin to the analogy of the acorn and the oak; from little acorns grow mighty oaks.
Awo, as the sage was fondly called, had an eight-month sojourn at the Daily Times. But his penchant for writing did not wane. So, on May 10, 1949, the African Press Limited was incorporated under the Companies Ordinance of 1948 as printers, publishers and proprietors of a newspaper to be christened the Nigerian Tribune. “My interest in journalism and association with newspapers did not cease with the severance of my connection with the Nigerian Daily Times. I entertained the ambition that when I came on my own, I would establish a newspaper which would be livelier and better run than the paper,” he said. This was in 1935, about 14 years before the dream to establish the newspaper materialised.
The core staff members were among the best hands in the industry then. But the paper could not appear on the newsstands in October 1949 due to technical hitches. So, the first edition was rolled out at 1.25 am on November 16, 1949, with the lead story headlined: “CHEMISTS PROTEST, a report on the demonstration by students of the Pharmaceutical School, Yaba in Lagos over inadequate subsistence allowance granted them during training. The public acceptance of the paper was phenomenal as its print run increased within two weeks rising to 6,000 copies daily within eight months.
The rapid popularity was underlined by the publication of the ‘Seventy Years of the Nigerian Press’ in 1959 by Mr Increase H. E, Coker. He wrote: “The Nigerian Tribune has the singular distinction of being the first and only daily published in the provinces to compete in Lagos with the other dailies…. It is also the first provincial newspaper to compete in Lagos with a country-wide appeal and circulation.”
Certain factors enabled those major strides and achievements possible within the short period the newspaper hit the streets. One of the reasons was the elevated quality and pedigree of the management team. The newspaper had a clear focus, unique selling point in terms of editorial contents and standard, just as it paraded an editorial team that comprised industrious, dedicated, energetic and disciplined members, whose eyes were on the ball always. Besides, the newspaper was dogged in its commitment to the cause of justice, fairness, equity, freedom for the people. In other words, it was the voice of the voiceless, the conscience of the majority and the strength of the forces committed to the birth of renaissance in the society. Conscious of the burden of a purposeful and altruistic leadership, Awolowo inspired the team by writing most of the editorials that shaped the polity and the society, as well as and redefined governance and mentality of the British colonial masters.
Mama and Tribune as Siamese twins
Reminiscing on the beginning of the trail-blazing Tribune, Mama HID Awolowo recalled how she was ecstatic about the moment the newspaper broke the ice in 1949. She gave a snippet on the amount of energy and time spent on achieving the vision of birthing the Tribune and her inner state of mind when it was founded. Mama said: “I was quite happy and excited. You see, Papa and I had been going there every evening to see the project for about two weeks to make sure everything was in order” She also highlighted those qualities that have made the Tribune an enduring and long-lasting paper, one of which was the interest of readers and the staff. On the kind of legacy Tribune should sustain, she said: “I want Tribune to be high-quality paper with excellent and exhaustive reports, as well as a paper identified with truth and honesty. Those are the things I will like it to be; to be a world-class paper that is honest and truthful.”
At 75, those virtues remain dear to the hearts of many loyal readers of the newspaper. Sustenance of the high moral and professional standard, ethical behaviour and valour takes precedent in the scheme of things in the organisation.
Some prominent persons, among them, Major General Zamani Lewot (retd), are effusive about the audacity of Tribune to remain resolute in matters of injustice by the establishment against citizens. The sanctity of those values is consistently accentuated by the chairman of ANN Plc, Ambassador (Dr) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu. “The foundation of the Tribune was not built on mercantile and/or pecuniary grounds. It was laid on the solid ground of service to the people of Nigeria in terms of enlightenment, mobilisation and integration.
“The paper has become a national institution not because it is the oldest surviving newspaper in Nigeria today, but because it has added value to our country, symbolising as it does the true Nigerian spirit. It has clearly redefined the notion that nothing good can come out of Nigeria. It has weathered all storms and survived even the most pernicious leadership and stifling economic vicissitudes,” she stated.
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