By Onochie Anibeze

On Wednesday, we published tributes to mark our 40th anniversary as a newspaper. Here’s the conclusion of a piece I did on Vanguard as a family.

Emma Huesu was doing a good job for us on the sports desk. His French background helped our sports coverage tremendously. Radio Gabon truly lived up to its name, Numero Une (number one) of sports coverage in Africa. They ran live commentaries of many sports events in Europe. Their daily sports programme covered African players in Europe. Chris Okojie and Ikeddy Isiguzo, who succeeded him as Sports Editor of Vanguard had set an unbelievable pace in sports coverage.

We were unarguably the best. I was determined to sustain that sports culture when I became Sports Editor in 1992. If we were beaten to any story it was that sourced from Radio Gabon or Radio France. Of course, this was the era before internet. We sourced foreign reports mainly from VOA, BBC and Radio Gabon.

Emma Huesu understood French. He spoke it fluently and even wrote it excellently. Paul Bassey read French at University of Calabar. He enriched the Champion sports pages with stories sourced from Radio France and Radio Gabon. I hired Emma Huesu to challenge Paul Bassey, my senior colleague and a contemporary of Ikeddy Isiguzo. Huesu did a pretty good job of it. Bassey would not have that. He lured Emma Huesu to Champion. I tried to stop that move by offering a better salary to him. Frank Aigbogun, our editor then backed me. We offered Huesu bigger pay to remain in Vanguard. He thanked me for my efforts but eventually left for Champion Newspapers.

I would not allow them outdo us in sports coverage. That shouldn’t happen in my time as sports editor. I went to Standard of Jos and hired Emma Epong, another guy who translated French very well. Epong did more. He would gather French newspapers and magazines and we had juicy news stories and interviews granted by African players in Europe. Those were days we had up to three to four pages of sports reports daily. Barely one year after Huesu left, he wanted to return to Vanguard. I asked him why. His reason would amaze you:

“There’s no place like Vanguard, Onochie. Vanguard is a family. I’m missing that family life in Vanguard. In Vanguard, you as sports editor could approve a trip and the IOU would be paid. In Champion, that approval may still pass through up to 10 people before payment. That’s not the only thing. You can’t beat the family life in Vanguard. I want to return to the Vanguard family.”

Huesu’s remarks are still pertinent today that we celebrate Vanguard at 40.
The sports desk once boasted, at various times, of Abimbola Akinloye, Philip Ahante, Seyi Fasugba who went to Champion too, Eyobong Ita, Tony Ahigbe, Chuks Ugwuoke , Fidelis Ebu etc.

There were photographers like McJohn, Bodise-Wise, George Esiri and Sylva Eleanya. Akinloye wrote the column AT LARGE. He would have actually succeeded Ikeddy but he left for another paper and the mantle fell on me as the third sports editor of the newspaper since it’s inception. We have only had four. STABILITY.

The family nature of Vanguard Newspapers is one of the things I celebrate most till date. It is championed by head of the family, Uncle Sam. He has not changed. He associates with everybody and makes one have a sense of belonging.

Few days ago, when Vanguard turned 40 on June 3 and we were discussing the newspaper after our pioneer editor Muyiwa Adetiba initiated the talks, we agreed to write short tributes to mark when the paper went daily. Nnnana Ochereome, current chairman of our editorial board said to me: “Some of us were reading about SportsVanguard hotline before joining. It will be nice to know if there was truly a hotline.” Well, Vanguard stood out in three major areas from the early days. Sports, Features that celebrated family and human interest stories and news.

Our sports pages were authoritative, insightful and full of exclusive stories. Chris Okojie was a master, Ikeddy Isiguzo who succeeded him was classic and in a world of his own. I was lucky to have worked with them and when the mantle fell on me as sports editor, I pulled all strings, attempting to fill their big shoes.

Internet had at that time not extended to our shores. We first transmitted stories through telex and later fax machines. Not all companies had international telephone lines. We had one in Vanguard and that became out hotline. We were calling our stars abroad. Much later, we started contacting the likes of Stephen Keshi, Peter Rufai, Rashidi Yekini who were in Europe and they fed us with stories that were exclusive to us.

Vanguard maintained a relationship others didn’t have with many of our stars. Ikeddy had sown some seeds that we were reaping from, especially from track and field. I later had contacts in FIFA, the football governing body, MIPTC and ITF, the two major bodies in tennis.

When Alex Akinyele as chairman of our sports commission held press conference to announce that FIFA had lifted their ban on Nigeria, I contacted FIFA. While others celebrated Akinyele’s statement Vanguard came out with a banner headline – IT’S A LIE, NIGERIA REMAINS BANNED. It was a red-hot exclusive that sold out the newspaper before noon.

Ikeddy was still the sports editor then. Chief Gabriel Igbinedion was spending money, preparing for the second Okada Tennis Classic, a Challenger series tourney when Vanguard published what shocked our tennis world. Nigeria had also been banned that year and Okada, one of the challenger series tournaments would not hold. Chief Igbinedion called me personally to thank me for the information that made him to stop spending on preparation. Yes, we had a hotline that boosted our sports coverage. At a time, I was even allowed to take home a wireless IDD line I used in calling players at night. Sports remains special to us in Vanguard. Tony Ubani took the baton from me when I was appointed Saturday Editor. He is still running a good race.

All the editors know the special place sports holds in Vanguard and key in behind a publisher who likes and promotes sports so much that he could offer ‘night entertainment’ to his sports journalist not only to motivate him but also to show LOVE.
It is the love that Uncle Sam radiates that has made Vanguard the most stable newspaper in terms of staffing. In 40 years we have had only six editors – Muyiwa Adetiba, Toye Akiode, Frank Aigbogun, Gbenga Adefaye, Mideno Bayagbon and Eze Anaba. The number is even less in sports. There, we have had Chris Okojie, Ikeddy Isiguzo, Onochie Anibeze and Tony Ubani. I believe that this stability is a reflection of the professionalism and good conscience of Uncle Sam.

40 years on, we are still living his dreams amid some challenges that have affected our pace. However, our struggle TOWARDS A BETTER LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE continues in our refreshingly different ways. Happy 40th anniversary, Vanguard Newspapers. Onward, we shall continue to march.