By Eze Anaba, Editor

Adapting to the rapidly evolving media landscape and maintaining ethical standards are twin challenges faced by a modern newspaper editor in Nigeria. But they do not take away the professional fulfilment of being The Editor of Vanguard, especially being referred to as Uncle Sam’s Editor.

It is easy to romanticise the job of the Editor of a national newspaper to consist of breaking news, telling the government what to do and having the answers to every societal problem. While the Editor’s job carries some of those responsibilities, the reality is that the job of an Editor is more complicated, especially now that the media ecosystem is like a rapidly changing climate. More on that shortly.

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I started my odyssey in Vanguard as an intern which saw me navigate through a newsroom populated by some of the best hands journalism had then. As an intern entering the newsroom of Vanguard headed by the famed Frank Aigbogun as News Editor was a culture shock. The newsroom that Frank headed was a bustling hub of activity. Everybody seemed in a hurry; people were yelling at each other over everything and anything. Despite this ‘commotion’, productive work was still being done.

Frank left nobody in doubt who was in charge of the newsroom. His modus operandi was the stuff of legends. When he was not yelling at reporters, most of whom were older than him, which usually forced the reporters to run away from the news room or to the back of the building where the library was at the time, he would squeeze any story idea you had out of you. If you were a reporter you dared not sit in the newsroom if you did not have a news story or were not working on one. When Frank was not yelling at the reporters, he was busy writing furiously on what was then known as ‘Off-cut’ which was made of newsprint wastes cut to the size of A-4 paper.

I learnt quickly that to survive in the newsroom, you not only had to be creative but your dedication to the task given you must be top notch. It did not take me long to realise that to survive in Frank’s newsroom, I must satisfy him and plant my feet solidly in Vanguard. Frank, as he then was (these days he is better known as the Publisher of  Businessday  Newspaper) drafted me to do my internship under Richard Akinola. Richard was then the famous head of the Judiciary Desk. He was one of the best if not the very best Judiciary Editor of his generation who has now written many books on the law profession. He acted as a catalyst of my sojourn in Vanguard that has lasted three decades and still counting.

I learnt the nuances of court reporting under him and he also taught me that being a court reporter required you to think as a lawyer and at the same time write like a journalist. He gave me all the tools I needed to succeed under Frank. Frank himself noticed it and challenged me with more assignments he would not ordinarily give other greenhorns like me. A combination of Frank’s trust and guidance and Richard’s daily mentorship propelled my journalism career.

As a court reporter, I covered most of the landmark cases in Nigeria in the late 1980’s and throughout 1990’s, Nigeria’s period of transition from military to the democratic dispensation we now “enjoy”. Some of the cases included the trial and conviction of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the trial of the late Prof Tam David West, several court cases that erupted following the murder of Dele Giwa involving the enfant terrible of the legal profession, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, and others. The judgement in most of the cases are still cited as precedents to this day. In the course of reporting the courts, I developed interest in human rights advocacy which culminated in my collaborating with friends to set up several NGOs which are still thriving till today.

I rose rapidly under Frank’s leadership and Richard’s mentoring. This experience was cut short when Richard resigned from Vanguard. His exit automatically made me the head of the Judiciary Desk, a position I held until I was promoted to the position of Deputy News Editor under Dapo Olufade.  It was in my new position as Deputy News Editor that I started getting to know more about the Vanguard Chairman and Publisher, Mr. Sam Amuka-Pemu, Uncle Sam. I knew him as the Chairman but I didn’t have any personal interaction with him until I became Deputy News Editor. I would say that my career in Vanguard really exploded when I became the Saturday Editor, a position which instantly brought me under the radar of Uncle Sam.

Understandably, there were doubts as to whether I could cope as Saturday Editor because I was not even the News Editor before I was made the Editor of the Saturday paper. The Saturday paper gave me the opportunity to express myself.   Days after I was made Saturday Editor, I asked Uncle Sam to give me an idea of the type of paper he wanted me to produce. His response was that I should produce a Saturday paper that would be readable. It was during the periodic interactions with the Chairman that I started learning what it really means to be an Editor. The first of what has turned out to be an educational compass as an Editor was Uncle Sam telling me that a newspaper is a reflection of the Editor.

I also learnt that in Vanguard, Editors are not told what to publish. He once told me that an Editor is not edited until he had published, which simply means that an Editor’s work can only be queried when the paper had been published.  I leant quickly listening to our Chairman that the biggest responsibility of the Editor is “knowing what not to publish”. This statement summarises several journalism books on the responsibility and role of an Editor.  My stint as Saturday Editor ended after three years before Uncle Sam ‘struck’ again by making me the Deputy Editor under the editorship of Mideno Bayagbon. The relationship with Mideno as his Deputy ended after five years before I was made Editor.

As Editor, it has been a mix of exhilarating highs and daunting lows. The lows include making the paper competitive in the face of the digital revolution that has made many practitioners doubt the future of the hard-copy newspaper. The stealthy nature of the entrance of the digital revolution in the media was not taken seriously until it started having an asphyxiating hold on the media and its practitioners, so much so that many are now doubting the future of the hard-copy. Under this climate of uncertainty laced with declining sales, fake news, declining trust in the media, the news losing its suzerainty to the adverts as the sole determinant of when a newspaper goes to bed, one still has to ensure that ethical standards are maintained. Despite these challenges, I still have absolute faith in the future of Journalism as a change agent and the task of fighting for an egalitarian society more important than ever.

As Editor of Vanguard, it has been educative and a joyride. There are more challenges ahead. The good and humbling part for me is that I have the front row seat.

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