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“If the Guardian cannot do right by its employees and by its conscience, then it has no right to editorialize about the injurious practices of both the private and public sector.”
This is an update of a piece that was written in the summer of 2006. In the intervening months since the original treatise, nothing has changed; well, whatever changes there are is for the worse. The Nigerian Guardian -- after several years of indifference, predatory practices, and laziness -- has found itself mired in a labor dispute. The paper and its proprietors got lazy. And greedy. And selfish. A paper known for its acidic and piercing editorials about injustice and other forms of corrupt and unjust practices within the Nigerian and African landscape is now being exposed for its long practices of unjust dealings. The wind coming out of the Rutham House, corporate headquarters of the newspaper, smells of hypocrisy.
If the Guardian cannot and will not do right by its employees and by its conscience, then it has no right, legal or moral, to editorialize about the injurious practices of both the private and public sectors; it has no right to rail against politicians. The Guardian, when it is all said and done, may not be better than all those it has accused of exploitation and economic and political servitude. After several years of being at the top and after millions and millions of profit and goodwill, the company is refusing to consent to “equal labor equal pay.” Where is the justice in demanding that its workers work for pittance? The Guardian Newspaper stands on the shoulder of its workers, yet, it is asking those workers to shoulder ever heavier load for meager amount.
What in the world is going through the mind of the Ibru family? What’s the matter with them? Hasn’t it dawned on them that after all these years of cheap, the world has changed to the point where cheap will no longer cut it? The Ibrus are a household name. They are rich and power and influential and global. Their workers are not asking for anything out of the ordinary -- other than better and equitable pay commensurate to their sweat, tears, and labor. Or is Rutham House now a sweatshop? If it is, they should say so now. And then there is Reuben Abati! This is a man that does not tolerate “nonsense” or opposition from his underlings. He is never to be disturbed, criticized, or looked at in a funny way. Well, that’s an aside; more of that some other time.
Until its asphyxiation and eventual death, the Daily Times of Nigeria was the Mecca of Nigerian journalism. It was home to a multitude of brilliant minds and first rate writers and journalists; and was also a training ground for emerging young Turk most of whom went on to great heights. The Daily Times of the 1960s and 70s helped shape public and private thinking and also influenced how civil servants formulated and implemented policies. It was a time when
Nigeria
’s role and place within the global community was assured and so domestic and international decision-makers paid attention to its pulse.
The Daily Times was where you went if you wanted to nourish your mind, satisfy your curiosity, sharpen your intellect or simply wanted a peek into the thinking of the elite and the ruling class. A great many debates and analysis took place on the pages of that icon -- all to the delight of students, scholars and public servants. Sadly, those days are long gone. That such an institution was allowed to die and disappear from our media landscape and our collective consciousness is a sad commentary on our national life and collective value system. However, many enterprising newspapers remain, i.e. the Punch, the Vanguard, Daily Independent, Daily Trust, ThisDay, the Tribune, and the Guardian. Of all the aforementioned however, arguably or inarguably, the Guardian has remained, for the last two decades or so, the closest to Daily Times.
Nevertheless, I and a number of readers are not entirely satisfied with the Guardian. The paper could do more. It should do more. My angst with the Guardian is that in spite of its stated and unstated goals, and considering the resources at its disposal, has not lived up to its billing and potentials. It is simply not enough to declare ones enterprise the flagship of Nigerian journalism; it is not enough to declare oneself the conscience of the nation. No. The Nigerian Guardian is capable of doing better. And so it must; otherwise, her rivals would come along, inch by inch, step by step to overtake her in the market place of ideas.
The Guardian is the most reputable Nigerian newspaper; yet the Sun (a tabloid) and the Punch regularly outsells it. Why? How? What are these papers doing right that the Guardian is not doing correctly? You have to be aggressive. Go into the community and let the people know you are there. Let them know you have the better product. Resting on ones past accomplishments is a recipe for disaster. Remember what happened to Newswatch after the sad passing of the great Dele Giwa? Whatever happened to MKO’s
Concord
? Relying on past glory would not do you any good. You must act as though you are just starting afresh, otherwise, there are wide-eye competitors waiting to do you in.
Writing about the Guardian, Mr. Sunny Chris Okenwa (one of the most vibrant and most illuminating commentators today) posited that, “From all indications some entrenched forces unhappy over The Guardian’s vocal independence and resourcefulness are manipulating the staff against the management. Yes these retrogressive forces want The Guardian dead! But The Guardian cannot and will not die…There is indeed a willful effort at sabotage. The question those who believe in what The Guardian stands for should be asking is: who wants The Guardian dead?” Truth be told: nobody, nobody wants the Guardian dead! The proprietors and managers are solely responsible for whatever pain and anguish the paper is going through today. In fact, signs of illness have been apparent almost a decade ago. The Guardian folks got cocky and rude and forgetful.
The public face of the Guardian, at least to most of us who live in the Diaspora, is Dr. Reuben Abati. He is the chair of the editorial board -- a wiz kid in his younger days who, it was said, completed his PhD at the tender age of 24. Whether one agrees with him or not, reading him can be a great delight. He has a way with words. Every so often though, I find that he vacillates, hedging his position and making ambiguous statements; he shuffles as if afraid to throw the decisive punch. It could be his nature or his training, or perhaps the reality of contemporary
Nigeria
’s journalistic and political environment; whatever it is, one gets the feeling that he is afraid of something, fearful for his safety. And so he threads lightly.
This is a man who writes and writes and write yet does not offend. Is he that nice? You can tell he is angry at something or somebody, but he keeps himself in check. He coats his language in honey. Or in sweet-sour sauce. But you see; great journalists and great writers offend. They rock the boat. They make public officials uncomfortable. They prick people’s conscience. They make the elites and the ruling classes rethink their position and pronouncements. Great writers tell it the way it is or the way it ought to be. They strive for social change. Somehow, Abati walks and writes gingerly. And so every now and then I “scream at him” telling him to “throw the punch” and not just smile and throw feeble jabs.
Abati may be the public face of the Nigerian Guardian, but those who run the paper are many. They run a good ship; but they could do better. They should strive for greater height. How? For a start call in computer, and related experts, to catalogue the archives and then make it searchable from A-Z. Any newspaper worthy of its pedigree has a searchable archive. In this regard, the Guardian may charge nominal fee for those who want full access to all its materials in the archive.
Redesign the website to make it look more contemporary, friendly and easy to browse. It won’t be considered sinful if the paper borrows a leaf from the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, or the Washington Post. Come to think of it, is there any reason why the Guardian does not have hourly update of events on its websites? My goodness, this is the Guardian, and not some Igboshere newsletter!
The time has come when the paper must look beyond the shores of
Nigeria
and the African continent. We live in an age of globalization. And so the paper must expand its scope and focus and render more news and analysis of global importance. Likewise, the paper should undertake several domestic efforts on how it operates so as to reach a larger audience at home and abroad. In other words, the Guardian needs a makeover. And commensurate pay for its workers!
Sabidde@yahoo.com
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Posted by Robot| 10.12.2007 21:19