One Year On: Thriving in a Hostile Environment

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.” Zig Ziglar.
2015 was like no other year in Nigeria. It was the year the nation experienced its first handing over of the baton of political power from one political party to another; through the ballot box and not the medium of a military coup d’état. But it was also the year that first sign posted the creeping national economic malaise. This economic cli­mate was not the best of times to start a new business, not to talk of a national newspaper.

Then, there were signs for the now acknowledged eco­nomic recession. And the Boko Haram inflicted inse­curity in the North East kept on festering. The bourgeon­ing militancy in the Niger Delta was just rearing its head. The kidnappings and general threat to life and property were there. The new government was settling in. Over all, every­thing was in a fluid. Indeed, there were no defined direc­tion for either the economy or the polity. The rumblings in the National Assembly over which faction of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) will hold sway was still smoul­dering. And the President, Muhammadu Buhari, was yet to constitute his Executive Council.
In this atmosphere debuted The AUTHORITY Newspa­pers on 15th October, 2015. We kicked off as a daily, online and hard copy, publishing The AUTHORITY (Daily), The AUTHORITY (Sunday) and The AUTHORITY (Saturday). How time flies. One year after, we are celebrating God’s great hand upon us. With little pub­licity, we actually sneaked into the market. But through some deft marketing, God made us to be accepted in so short a time, to be noised all over the nation. It is so glaring that God loves us. He just lifted us. And that is why we are still stand­ing tall today, in circumstances that would have killed very well-funded newspapers. We have been enjoying His grace, mercy and favours all the way. We have been enjoying peace within, despite all the hul­laballoo outside. The grace upon us was such that we are still pleasantly surprised about how a newspaper being run on a string budget could be so quickly embraced by so large a population, in so short a time, online and hard copy.
But we would not have start­ed, nor made the giant strides in one year, if the founding trio of Madu Onuorah, Joe Nwankwo and Chucks Akun­na had not been assembled by our Chairman/Publisher, Pro­prietor, FC Ifeanyi Ubah and Chairman, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd, Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. He has been the motivating force that has pushed all to bring out his or her best, making us to have the can-do, never-say-die spirit, now touted as The AUTHOR­ITY spirit.
Dr Ubah saw the need for a newspaper The AUTHORITY could play in the emerging new Nigeria; that there could be fracturing of inter-and in­tra-geo-political, socio-politi­cal relationships, if things are not well handled. This could foster new tensions and fault lines, which the already estab­lished newspapers and news organizations would not read­ily give voice to all the needs of the six-geo-political zones, or interpret significantly the new problems that would emerge from the changes that were emerging.
The matching order is to give Nigeria a platform for looking at Nigeria and Nige­rians; to impact power to the powerless and to reassure Ni­gerians that Nigeria belongs to all the component parts of the Nigerian federation and there­for were entitled to every right and responsibility that comes with it. But one thing going for us was the enthusiasm of the board, management and staff. Right from day one, there was no doubt that all were willing to pay the price and spend the long hours needed to make the newspaper work. We fully dedicated ourselves towards the goal, to unselfishly work to serve our readers on whom our survival depended on. And because of the quick ac­ceptance, we earned the confi­dence of the advertising pub­lic.
Today, we look back and we thank the staff, led by the un­assuming but world-class Edi­tor, Mr Kelechi Onyemaobi. With his years of experience in international public service, Mr Onyemaobi led the staff to imbibe out mantra that it was not just our commitment and engagement that matters, but their intensity. And they took it to the next level. Indeed, it showed in that our greatest collateral in this business has been the men and women who have been part of this lean but lethal media organization.
Yes, we are indeed blessed with the good fortune of hav­ing Mr Onyemaobi, a First Class graduate of the Uni­versity of Ife, as Editor. Al­most two decades earlier, he had been Editor of The Post Express newspapers. Then he took time off to work for the European Union and the United Nations. He is cur­rently in the run to acquire a PhD. He remains a journalists’ delight, a scholar and a gentle­man. To compliment him is the versatile and experienced Chairman, Editorial Board, Chief Uche Ezechukwu. He still works as if he is still in his thirties.
Ever the journalist, Chief Ezechukwu, a renowned au­thor and polyglot, has put at the disposal of The Authority, his years of experience gar­nered in journalism, public service and consultancy, at al­most no cost. These two men are our leading lights. We also have the hardworking Editor (Saturday), Malachy Uzendu and Editor (Sunday), Okey Muogbo. They have been ever dependable.
With the staff that have to work in sometimes very ex­cruciating situations, it is no surprise we have continued to earn the trust of our read­ers and advertisers. Despite the circumstances of the envi­ronment, the staff appreciates that the board and manage­ment mean well; that we have provided for them based on what we have. And they have reciprocated by giving their best. Beyond that, they know and accept that we must strive for integrity, that when money finishes, integrity continues to work for you. And this has kept us going.
In the beginning, we hired reporters who were actually on their beats. Before we had training sessions, setting off the roadmap on where we are taking the newspaper to and how to go about it. We im­pressed it on the staff that we have to live by our name. We don’t report anything until you are sure of it as we don’t want to publish reports over which we have to apologize later. Through the last one year, we thank God that our name, The AUTHORITY, remained un­blemished. We have indeed justified it through every re­port we published.
 From day one, we had no illusions about the challenges. But we equally know that the most difficult things are done by human beings with steeled determinations. We therefore gave ourselves the task of fo­cusing on the segments of the society and regions of the country hitherto ignored. We aimed to get out their views, to have them represented, to cause their voices to be heard. We also vowed to introduce the newspaper to the street markets, while not ceding ground on the reportage of the capital and money markets.
Towards this, we brought into the mainstream, the reportage of all the main markets in Nigeria into the mainstream. So, we now have routine specialised focus on the markets including Abuja, Lagos, Onitsha, Aba, Owerri, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Kano; places where ordinary Nigerians buy and sell.
For the past one year, we have established that the news­papers, while being a platform for public service, need not be a political tool. We have run this newspapers strictly as a business, putting to action our fundamental position that you can’t be a successful newspa­per unless you are successful as a business. As a business module, money doesn’t fly around us. All expenditures goes through checks and bal­ances.
Today, we can look back to the day the first issue of the newspaper rolled off the press, our birthday of 15th October, 2015. As it hit the streets, read­ers had the first opportunity to view the newspaper.
Though praises, uncom­mon praises came aplenty, we focused our attention more on what the critics had to say. The general view was that we did not hit the market like a new newspaper. Others said we acted more matured than our age. We blocked our ears, fo­cusing on where our mistakes lay so that we could improve our services. Some even pre­dicted our early death sim­ply because we did not have a printing press. Perhaps, we also gained something from the University of Hard Knocks by starting without one and experiencing all the setbacks that not having own printing press would bring.
But I can joyfully announce to our readers that The AU­THORITY is celebrating this anniversary with the arrival of two brand new printing presses. With that, we would print simultaneously in Nnewi for the South East/South South market and Lagos for the South West market. The arriv­al of the Abuja printing press will be the icing on the cake. The AUTHORITY remains a truly national paper with headquarters in Abuja.
Zig Ziglar, foremost Ameri­can motivational speaker who died in 2014 at age 86, memo­rably said: “A goal properly set is halfway reached.” In the years ahead, we will serve you better, having learned the les­sons needed for the push into the future in the last one year. And like old wine, we will get better. This we know be­cause in the one year of our existence, you, the reader, has given us reason and the in­gredients to hope and strive. The race to give Nigeria the newspaper of the future just started. And we are there to fulfil that dream.
Today we celebrate our miraculous God who kept us on. He has been colouring our efforts, enlarging our little ef­forts and erasing shame and reproach from us. Indeed, one with God is majority. Without His great hand, we would have been history. We also thank our readers who accepted us with unqualified loyalty. We have enjoyed the fact that our readers accepted us with speed and were will­ing to stick with us no matter the situation. And our adver­tisers have kept faith with us and ensured we remain in business. We cannot thank you all enough. Continue to stick with us as we strive to improve. The future is bright. And we are getting there. As the motto of the Nigerian Navy would proclaim: On­ward Together!

Madu Onuorah

www.authorityngr.com