Uneasy calm and some jubilation swept through the newsroom of The Guardian (Nigeria) newspaper yesterday as the Board of Directors of Guardian Press Limited named the Abuja Bureau Chief, Martins Oloja, Acting Editor.
Uneasy calm and some jubilation swept through the newsroom of The Guardian (Nigeria) newspaper yesterday as the Board of Directors of Guardian Press Limited named the Abuja Bureau Chief, Martins Oloja, Acting Editor.
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Mr. Oloja, a respected product of the University of Lagos who hails from Ondo State, will take over from Mr. Debo Adesina, who has been editor of the newspaper for 14 years. The Guardian, which in its prime called itself the “flagship of the Nigerian press,” will turn 30 next February.
SaharaReporters learnt that the changing of the guards was executed in clinical fashion last week. Two weeks ago, the incumbent, Mr Debo Adesina, was sent on leave in order to prepare the way.
Rutam House sources confirmed that the newspaper group’s widely-travelled Managing Director, Mr. Emeka Izeze, was away in Eastern Europe when the surprise appointment was made following a Board meeting at the company’s headquarters. Mr. Izeze is thought to be opposed to radical change in the structure of the The Guardian, which was founded by Mr. Alex Ibru in 1983. Mr. Ibru died last year.
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The proprietors of the newspaper have been worried about the declining standard of the paper, which was nurtured by top professionals and intellectuals from the nation’s top newspapers and universities, led by Dr. Stanley Macebuh. Analysts see evidence of this in the fact that even before his death, Mr Ibru had brought back as a consultant the pioneer editor and later Managing Director, Mr Lade Bonuola.
Our sources said that despite the opposition of Mr. Izeze, the directors and owners were said to have determined that change of editorial leadership was imperative, and settled on Mr Oloja, who is well known in the industry. We further learnt yesterday that the leave designed for Mr. Adesina was to enable him to resign or consider other options, having led the paper for so long.
The change of editors of the main newspaper will be the first major decision under Mrs. Maiden Ibru, the new publisher. For several years, The Guardian has been losing esteem and market to its competitors. While Mrs. Ibru seems determined to restore the lost glory of the group’s newspapers, she may be handicapped by the influx of her children and other relatives into the newspaper group as executives in positions where they have neither training nor experience. It is unclear if their collective interference in the day to day running of the newspapers will permit the editors to run the newspapers professionally.
Mr Oloja, one of Nigeria's better organized and versatile journalists, is a former Lagos Bureau Chief of Abuja's premier newspaper, "Abuja Newsday," where he was also elevated to the position of Editor.
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