AND THE EXECUTION

Synthesising the impressions of a few former staff of THISDAY, Ayo Arowolo suggests that only one conclusion can be reached: it is difficult to separate the personae of Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Publisher of THISDAY and Arise Media Group from that of the me

Who among Obaigbena’s associates, friends, partners, old school boys, and staff- whatever description-can say he or she truly understands who Prince Nduka Obaigbena is? The plain answer: None!

Prince Obaigbena, as complex as his empire is, has always been at the forefront of most of the bold innovations that shaped Nigeria’s media landscape over the past 35 years making THISDAY the number one newspaper of choice amongst the political, business, diplomatic and culture establishment within the last two decades and a half.

Obaigbena started his journalism career at the Nigerian Observer in 1978 as a satirist, writer and cartoonist. He worked briefly with Newsweek Magazine in 1984 as a Special Section Representative before moving over same year to TIME Magazine, New York and London where he helped develop Special Surveys and Country Sections and later founded the notable weekly, THISWEEK Magazine in 1986 in Lagos.

In pursuit of his determination to give Africa a global voice, Obaigbena launched ARISE TV, a 24-hour news and entertainment channel with broadcast hubs in London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos and distributed in Africa, Europe, Middle East and the USA. He was elected to the Nigerian Constitutional Conference in 1995 – a body that wrote the current Nigerian Constitution and was appointed to the Nigeria Political Reform Conference in 2005 and the Nigerian National Conference in 2014. He has also served on several boards, state and presidential committees for privatization and governance. Obaigbena is President of The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria and The Nigerian Press Organisation - the media umbrella comprising The Nigerian Union Journalist, Nigerian Guild of Editors and NPAN and was a member of the Selection Committee of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, Davos and founding Chairman of The

African Media Leaders Forum as well as a founding member of the board of the African Media Initiative.

Those who are close to him say Obaigbena does not take “No” for an answer. Once he makes up his mind to pursue an idea; he gives it everything it takes and is ready to demolish anything standing on his way.

Some say that Obaigbena is not deterred by negative circumstances once he has made up his mind to pursue an idea. At one point, the Headquarters of THISDAY in Abuja was set on fire by the Boko haram group destroying printing equipment worth several millions of dollar, and completely obliterating the center.

At a very close interval to the Abuja incident, the Lagos office of THISDAY was also raced by a mysterious inferno. Yet Obaigbena was not deterred. He simply soldered on.

Some also say that Obaigbena could be daring when it comes to actualizing an inspired idea. Riding on the success of the THISDAY brand in Nigeria, Obaigbena embarked on a bold and aggressive brand extension by storming South Africa with the introduction of the THISDAY brand, totally disrupting the media landscape in the space of time the brand was there.

More than anything else, Obaigbena can be described as a man of style and panache. He does not attempt small things. Some good examples were his various awards such as the Style Awards, The Arise Fashion Week; THISDAY Banking Awards, now being replicated by almost all the media houses in the country

Would you also complete the description of Obaigbena without mentioning his high networking skills? He seems to know virtually everybodyfrom presidents to senators to governors and a great number of the diplomatic community. The interesting thing is that Obaigbena constantly invents ways of maintaining relationships with his contacts.

Some also say he is pan Nigeria in outlook. His activist nature, silent to many but stirred from childhood with fund raisers for apartheid activists; his belief in Africa and Nigeria with instances of his opening THISWEEK with income from Time magazine project when he could have continued working in the comfort of New York.

Of late, Obaigbena has been putting his brand behind the giving back project creating awareness to issues in the key critical areas of the economy. The latest of such initiatives were the highly successful Healthcare Policy Dialogue series where Nduka using the THISDAY and Arise brand to push for deeper and more creative funding of the health sector. The third edition had the vice president, Professor Yemi Osibajo and members of the diplomatic community in attendance.

Obaigbena’s background benefit of working in a top rated research outfit in London has also helped in no small measure in leading the pile as an industry definer, right from This Week to THISDAY and now Arise News.

In the accompanying articles, five former staff of the company, the tribe we have described as ‘THISDAY AMBASSADORS’, share their impressions about the ‘Duke’ and THISDAY