Nigerian Tribune

Nigerian Tribune

Type	Daily newspaper
Publisher	African Newspapers of Nigeria Ltd
Editor	Sam Adesua
Founded	1949
Language	English
Official website	http://www.tribune.com.ng/

The Nigerian Tribune is an English language newspaper published in Ibadan in Nigeria. It was established in 1949 by Obafemi Awolowo and is the oldest surviving private Nigerian newspaper.^[1]

In the colonial era, the newspaper served as the mouthpiece for Awolowo's populist welfare programs. It also played an important role in defending the interests of the Yoruba people in a period when different ethnic gropus were struggling for ascendancy.^[2] From independence in 1960 until the 1990s most publications were government-owned, but private papers such as the Nigerian Tribune, The Punch, Vanguard and the Guardian continued to expose public and private scandals despite government attempts at suppression.^[3] General Ibrahim Babangida once said that of all the Nigerian newspapers he would only read and take seriously the Nigerian Tribune's editorial column.^[4]

The book Leadership Failure and Nigeria's Fading Hopes by Femi Okurounmu consists of excerpts from a weekly column in the Nigerian Tribune published between 2004 and 2009. The author, a patriotic Nigerian elder statesman laments how the corruption and the selfishness of successive leaders has destroyed the hopes not just of Nigerians, but of the entire black race.^[5]

In December 2008 Segun Olatunji, managing director and Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Tribune resigned, and a few days later the editor, Rauf Abiodun also resigned as part of a series of staff changes. Mrs. HID Awolowo, who is chairman of the Nigerian Tribune's publisher African Newspapers of Nigeria Ltd, appointed Sam Adesua as the new managing director/editor-in-chief. Edward Dickson was appointed editor of the daily paper. The changes were said to be part of a move to modernize the paper and expand beyond narrow Yoruba partisan politics in the face of competition from The Westerner, The Nation and Nigerian Compass.^[6]

In January 2011 the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) reacted angrily to an editorial in the Nigerian Compass that accused the ACN of imposing its candidates in the party primaries for the forthcoming national elections. An ACN spokesman called the paper a front for the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He said the paper was struggling since PDP governors had been removed from Osun and Ekiti states, causing the paper to lose advertising revenue directed to the Nigerian Tribune by the former governors.^[7] The ACN said the paper was bringing shame to the name of the founder, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.^[8]

References

1. ^ "About Us". Nigerian Tribune. http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/about-us. Retrieved 2011-05-11. 
2. ^ "‘Awolowo, Obafemi (1909-1987)’ 2004". Encyclopedia of African History. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routafricanhistory/awolowo_obafemi_1909_1987. Retrieved 13 May 2011. 
3. ^ Sriramesh, Krishnamurthy; Verčič, Dejan (2009). The global public relations handbook: theory, research, and practice. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415995140. http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZbxYDUul-UkC&pg=PA324. 
4. ^ McNezer Fasehun (29 June 2009). "Nigerian Tribune - a Salute to Awo's Newspapernomics". Daily Independent. http://allafrica.com/stories/200906291720.html. Retrieved 13 May 2011. 
5. ^ Femi Okurounmu (2010). Leadership Failure and Nigeria's Fading Hopes: Being Excerpts from Patriotic Punches a Weekly Column in the Nigerian Tribune from 2004 - 2009. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1449084095. 
6. ^ "MEDIA: CHANGE OF BATON AT NIGERIAN TRIBUNE". NBF. January 10, 2009. http://www.nigerianbestforum.com/index.php?topic=18474.msg%msg_id%. Retrieved 2011-05-13. 
7. ^ Sunday Omoniyi (28 January 2011). "ACN to Nigerian Tribune: your editorial a poorly-executed hatchet job". Osun Defender. http://www.osundefender.org/?p=11518. Retrieved 2011-05-13. 
8. ^ "The Glory Has Long Departed From The Nigerian Tribune, Says Lagos ACN". P.M. News. 28 January 2011. http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2011/01/28/the-glory-has-long-departed-from-the-nigerian-tribune-says-lagos-acn/. Retrieved 2011-05-13.