Nigerian Newsday
From a once viable publication, the Nasarawa State Governmentowned has plummeted into obscurity.
From Hassan Ibrahim, Lafia
The Nigerian Newsday newspaper was established in 2001 by a former governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, with the aim of becoming a national newspaper, but in 2015 the outfit was shut down by Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
The newspaper was initially known as Nasarawa Newsday, owned by Dadin Kowa Enterprises before selling its franchise to the state government in 2001.
The newspaper commenced as a weekly publication, focusing on national issues, including politics, economy, education, health, agriculture, sports, entertainment, feature, as well as international and state news, with a team of professional editors and correspondents across all the northern states, Abuja and Lagos State.
The newspaper was distributed across the country as it provided a platform for various voices, stories with columnists across the nation, which added value and credibility, as well as wider readership.
The government hired a veteran journalist and pioneer editor of Triumph newspaper, Kano, the late Rufai Ibrahim, as a consultant and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newspaper under the Nasarawa Publishing Company. Ibrahim brought his experience and was given a free hand to operate.
The company, during its hay days, generated huge financial resources to run its activities with about 100 to 120 members of staff. It was able to purchase a house out of its gains in the Maitama District of Abuja as an office in the Federal Capital to boost its business potential and actualise its vision of becoming a national newspaper.
In a telephone interview with a former sole administrator of the company, Rabiu Abdullahi, he said the Nasarawa State Government decided to shut down the company because it was unable to generate what could sustain the newspaper.
He said when he was appointed sole administrator in 2013, his mandate was to revive the newspaper by improving its quality and editorial content. As a step to improving its quality, printers were changed from the New Nigerian newspapers to the Daily Trust. He also engaged the services of experienced journalists.
However, a senior editorial staff told our correspondent that the newspaper was shut down to settle political scores. Governor Al-Makura believed he was not well covered during his campaign before the 2011 general elections. He alleged that the newspaper worked against his interest.
He noted that the governor’s reasons for the closure, which he gave as poor quality, low editorial content and lack of productivity, were just a cover-up.
“The governor holds grudges with the newspaper over what transpired before and after he became the governor in 2011. He also perceived the newspaper as a threat because even after he assumed office, the paper covered news of major oppositions and reports in detail at the Governorship Election Tribunal,” the editor said.
He added that all the oppositions who challenged Al-Makura at the tribunal were adequately covered for fairness in consonant with the ethics of the profession.
According to him, the management was very cautious not to side with any party after the transition of power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). The newspaper maintained its neutrality and gave all the parties fair hearing, but that position really hurt the governor and he decided to muscle the newspaper as a payback. He said that two years after the governor came on board, he changed the management, which he saw as PDP stooge and gradually stopped state government advertorials under the pretext of poor quality. He added that local patronage was tactically discouraged. In the past, government agencies patronised the newspaper by placing advertorials which boosted revenue.
Besides, he pointed out that the governor, through one of his former aides, established a local newspaper that focused on promoting the image of the state government as an alternative.
However, responding to a question in a recent media interview on why he shut the newspaper and was still paying its workers, Governor Al-Makura said the company was closed because government was sinking money on an unproductive venture.
Al-Makura frowned at its quality and editorial content, adding, “You only see the Al-Makura storylines with very poor printout and no up-todate stories. Eggon newspaper (local paper) is far better than the Nigerian Newsday newspaper.”
On his part, the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Abdulhamid Kwarra, recently told newsmen in Lafia that government had redeployed all the staff of the defunct newspaper in compliance to the governor’s directive.
He said the ministry had set up a committee to redeploy, accommodate and take record of their areas of specialisation, adding that it would enable the government take appropriate action on assigning duties to those that would still be relevant in the ministry. Kwarra said, “Anyone whose services are not needed here would be sent to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service for redeployment to other ministries where their services are required.”
He explained that those who would be needed in the ministry include journalists, computer operators and technicians that would be useful because the ministry is planning to revamp the state printing press and they would be relevant there.
He added that staff members from the accounts department, administration, and drivers would be redeployed to other ministries because the Ministry of Information have enough of such categories.