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Nigerian

The blame lies with FG on the crisis, New Nigerian newspapers

Posted on June 27, 2025

My father was a former service man working in the office of the Premier and at the time, he worked along with the former Tatari A. Ali at Kaduna. When I was in Kaduna I was a student at my first school, the 1 Recce Squadron Children School prior to being assigned to LEA school. After that, I went into the Sabon Gari Elementary School in Kaduna. I then went through Funtua Government Secondary School as well as Kaduna Government College. After I left, I began working for the North Central State Water Board (NCSWB) as a clerical assistant in the year 1970. That same month, I gained an employment offer from The New Nigerian newspapers and therefore quit the NCSWB. Charles Sharp was the Managing Director of the New Nigerian. Adamu Ciroma was the Editor of the newspaper; Rasak Aremu served as the editor-in-chief and chief Michael Ekolopius was the editorial advisor. When I was at The New Nigerian, I worked in the composing area, and later moved to the proofreading department and then into the newsroom.

What did it the New Nigerian say then?

The New Nigerian was one of the most lively newspaper of the time you could think of. In reality, at the time it first published in the country, everyone shivered. Unfortunately, today this New Nigerian is an image of itself, and that is not a good thing.

What did you mean by saying this?

This is because the people who claim to be North’s leaders currently do not understand that is what the New Nigerian stood for. It was the New Nigerian stood for defending northern interests. In the days prior to the time that when the New Nigerian was established, the Daily Times newspapers was not advertising northerly activities. consequently, the late Premier of Northern Nigeria Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto created The New Nigerian and the BCNN (Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria) to promote the image of northern Nigeria. The BCNN’s motto is: “Mirrors the age in which we live in”.

What did the editorial content of the New Nigerian at that time?

Its editorial style of New Nigerian was mainly predicated on releasing the masses from poverty and deceit, ignorance, poverty and need as well in exposing injustice and what has happened to you. It encouraged socio-economic growth in the north specifically as well as the entire country. It facilitated cohesion and harmony between its citizens in the north since, at the time, we had a as a regional government. As an area it was it was a region where the Sardauna of Sokoto did not care if you were an Muslim or an Christian or even from the tribe you came from. That’s why, when the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) was founded and the late premier had been approached by Sunday Awoniyi as well as Dr. Christopher Apashia, Mr. Ishaya Michael Audu Buba, and chief Solomon Lar who was also an economic minister in the junior position at the time. planning at the time. They said to Sardauna that ‘Sardauna, you’ve created Jama’atu Nasril Islam for the Muslims but what about as Christians?’ Then Sardauna told them to establish CANN, the Christian Association of Northern Nigeria (CANN) This was the first step towards CAN. CAN is the work of Sardauna, and not other individual. Sardauna created the precedent for CANN even though he was Muslim. Muslim and did so to promote peace and tranquility throughout the northern region.

How were journalists doing their job as editors in the time you were there?

The art and craft of the journalism was that your loyalty was not only to your employer but your obligation was to the public, and that was it. It is your job to stand up and represent the public and be aware that you’re operating between the dark side and the vast blue sea. There was a time when I was having a discussion in the office of Late Rasak Aremu who was the editor in chief for the New Nigerian in his office in 1976. He told me that journalists are required to know the basics, or at least a little and then Chief Mike Olumpias chipped in and stated that a journalist must be able to know every aspect. This is for a journalist to be just a little more intelligent than a person to understand the information and synthesize it, then combine it and publish it as factual statement and let readers make their own decisions.

Do the editors of The New Nigerian influence your write-ups, particularly on controversial issues that have a connection to the power who are in power?

I was not influenced by anyone or advised me on what to write or not write. I wrote exactly what I was seeing. Our editors insisted that we try to write about what transpired, in order so that the reader gets an idea of what happened so that it appears like he’s watching an image when watching the story…That was the norm in our time and was how the profession of journalism should operate. However, today, if you go to the newsrooms in most cases you’ll find that they aren’t following the ethical guidelines of the profession. There are leads with more than 35 words because reporters do not adhere to the pyramidal style used for writing their stories.

The New Nigerian is owned by government. Have you ever written a article that had an impact on the power brokers and then your editors cut the story?

However it was a story that occurred during my time as an editor at the time. Plateau State Editor of the New Nigerian. I penned a piece on the disappearance of N3.6m missing that involved Gbong Gwom Jos Mr. Fom Bot, the Late Gbong Gwom Jos. Fom Bot and the late Christopher Dareng who was the then Commissioner for Education in Plateau State. It was to the point that I was detained. I informed the police commissioner to have me appear in court. I also told my then SSG (Secretary of the State Government) Alhaji Kassim Idris to make sure I appeared at the trial. After speaking with the SSG and being about to leave, I did not realise that my managing director, late Mohammed Turi, the editor and my news editor (was my managing director ). the late Abdullahi Adamu ) was also my editor. Steve My news editor was Bangbele. It was the year 1978, or about. There was a response of the state government that the information I had written was an illegitimate an imagining of my own. The governor at the time Group Captain Dan Suleiman wrote to the New Nigerian that I should be exiled out of Plateau State because I constituted an enigma to security. However, Turi Mohammed Turi was a typical leader and journalist and typical of an individual who is knowledgeable of his onions, responded and wrote: “Your Excellency, I am referring to your letter with a reference # …. I would like to let you know that I don’t take directions from a governor with regard to the location I should send my reporter. M.A Aliyu Biu serves as our editorial director from Plateau State and he remains in that position till the Board of Directors of New Nigerian decides otherwise”. The statement I made is exactly what the editor (Turi) told me at the time. Today, rarely would you come across the head of a newspaper who would rise in support of his reporter, if that reporter made a statement in opposition to the president of a state, and later. In the past we worked to serve the best interests of the journalism profession as it claims to be.

What do you believe that the New Nigerian Newspaper is no more as powerful like it was?

Oh my God! It’s a miracle! New Nigerian Newspaper died as the result of placing people in positions who did not even know what the newspaper was about. The newspaper is where it is in today due to the people in charge do not wish for to allow the New Nigerian to bring them down. In the event that you encounter someone with inadequate credentials for the position of authority He would not want any challenge from anyone outside and that’s one reason why New Nigerian had to die.

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