By Gbenga Adefaye, 4th Editor, General Manager  

GOING back into the history of Vanguard newspapers in the last 40 years of robust journalism of record, the years between 1998 and 2008 were significant for the brand development.

That was the decade when the reformatting of the paper was concluded as it dropped the brevity of eight paragraphs of news, the 300-word editorial comment, generous usage of Associated Press (AP) foreign photographs for the detailed reports of long reads that is now its forte. Not that there were not long and beautiful essays in Vanguard of the earlier years.

There were Ely Obasi and Uche Onyebadi who wrote refreshingly beautiful news feature articles that complemented Helen Ovbiagele’s Woman Own column, Treena Kwenta single mum series, Gloria Ogundipe’s treat and Doyin Omololu’s Lipstick column amongst others. Those ones provided the refreshingly different breath that Vanguard was known for.

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Sina Odugbemi was on the literary Vanguard beat that was unbeatable, DapDorman was the political columnist while Bisi Lawrence was doing the chatty Sunday Conversation column, TV critique and BizLaw sports column. Akapa, Bayo Odulana and Morak Oguntade were stroking off with hilarious but beautiful MR & MRS pocket cartoons, the Page 6 editorial cartoons snitches and the Emulewu rustic comic action strips on the K.K Yope Horoscope pages. That was a great Vanguard niche.

But that was the first phase. Editor Frank Aigbogun started the reformatting because Military President Ibrahim Babangida had started the Bretton Woods’ Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which priced out the poor and vapourised the purchasing power of the B and C market segments that constituted the bulk of Vanguard’s readership. Everyone was gutted. Newspaper sales figures plummeted. The inputs for newspaper production which were mostly imported were beyond the powers of the manufacturers. Newspapers were no longer the essential companion of the average home. Only those who must, purchase fewer copies of a popular brand like Vanguard whose target market was the mass of people that took the hit from SAP.

Smart editors had to re-strategise, pitching specific products to the advertising agencies, otherwise, they are sunk. That was where Frank Aigbogun came in as editor of the serious brand. It was only my duty to complete the rebranding as the editor of the decade between 1998 and 2008 when Vanguard expressed itself more forcefully as the paper of worthy causes and empathy.

Within that decade, we deliberately chose to champion worthy causes and earned recognition for the empathy generated. Looking back into the archives now, Vanguard did more of the interactive media job that is the lot of today’s online-driven practice. We went for readers’ participation in content packaging. We were probably ahead of our time.

We deliberately sponsored debates, calling for the readers’ response which came in deluge. Readers wrote informed pieces that were generously published and that broadened our readership base. It was the season when the cry of the average Igboman was that the Igbos were marginalized. So asked: “who is marginalising whom? There was an deluge of responses with each group from the East, West, the North and Middle-belt stating their cases of being shunted aside (by whoever) with facts and figures and historical sequences to back up claims.

We raised the Niger Delta question, the neglect and degradation since the time of colonial rule. Activists simply went into the deep history and we serialised the Willinisk Report which traced the amputated efforts to redress the devastation of the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The success of our campaign probably strengthened the branding of Vanguard as the Niger Delta paper.

But we were for building a just and equitable federation. It was a time to take up the agitation of the MEND militant group that took up arms against the state to draw attention to the plight of the oil-rich region. We even supported a series of talk shops and symposia to enrich conversations around the Niger Delta question. We added the agonizing stories of the infrastructure decay nationally but especially the death trap that the link road of Benin-Ore Expressway was, to the long list of other worthy causes to be pursued.

I remember a rare encounter with the late Chief Tony Anenih, the Minister of Works in Olusegun Obasanjo’s government who accused Vanguard newspaper of setting him for assassination the way we carried on with our campaigns on road and infrastructure decay especially in Niger Delta area where he came from. We were unrelenting. Vanguard was the paper of empathy that drew sympathy for the worthy causes chosen.

When we added the Owei Lakemfa historical essay series which featured personalities and events of significance to national development from the colonial times till that period of democratic governance, Vanguard completed the route. Readership was boosted. It was a good season for debates which was further enriched with our generous book serialisation projects, especially the stories of the June 12 struggles and the rebellion against continuous military dictatorships.

We were lavish with Wale Oshun’s books, especially his Clapping With One Hand which detailed the violent struggles from the trenches. I had to make a trip to the United Kingdom to secure the publishing right since Wale Oshun was stilled holed up in exile in the UK. More depth and fun also flowed from Chuks Iloegbunam’s biography of Aguiyi Ironsi’s Ironsides; the tale of the life and death of Nigeria’s military ruler who was murdered alongside his host Adekunle Fajuyi in Ibadan by mutinous soldiers.

Our book serialisation project was so successful that authors presented us with manuscripts for consideration even before they went to press. The impression was that if Vanguard published the serial, readers would take the book. The elements of cause and empathy were so deep with Vanguard that the paper would qualify for the best read newspaper. To cap it all, that season saw to the complete digitisation of Vanguard editorial operations with quality ICT support. We also began the online project which at some time saw Vanguard becoming the Number One online newspaper in Nigeria and the fourth in Africa, for a season. And so came recognitions that were once considered too pricey for Vanguard.

Although our print was trashy and derisively called toilet paper because of poor, inky reproduction that could barely carry quality advertisements, the readership was enlarged and “rating” groups like the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA) for the first time gave serial acknowledgment to Vanguard newspaper.

For four years, back to back, Vanguard won the prestigious Newspaper of the Year and Editor of the Year of NMMA award. It was both an honour and privilege to have Alhaji Babatunde Jose, doyen of the Press at that time present the Newspaper of the Year award plaque to me while the the Editor of the Year award named after the late iconic journalist Dele Giwa who was parcel-bombed October 19, 1986 followed in a quick succession. All the transformation and reformatting could of course only have been possible because of the unique style of Uncle Sam Amuka, the tolerant publisher who is a lover of good stories well told. Uncle Sam accepted and promoted innovations that strengthened the brand. He would support the editor to the hilt as long as you are not fingered for corruption and unethical practices. He is the ultimate brand master who insisted that the editor owned the paper to do as he wished shorn of corruption and unethical practices.

I remember him once telling me very early in my editorship that, “we all live in this town. I might have had dinner with you lunch guest before you even met him.” That was to put you on notice that as a man about town he would know if you compromised your position as editor and manager of public trust. Surely, the position of Vanguard is guaranteed as a successful brand that would outlast its competitors so long as it continues to evolve and respond to market dynamics, professionalism and maintain a high integrity in the business practice.

As its decade-long editor, I wish the brand a happy 40th anniversary. I am very proud to have been part of its success story. This newspaper gave me a life and national name recognition in a 37-year career when I also rose from a sub editor to become the editor and the first journalist to rise to the post of editor-in-chief and General Manager.

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