Historical Landscape of Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

Following an in-depth analysis of the historical landscape of Nigerian newspapers, this chapter classifies Nigerian newspapers into four categories: clientelist–political, commercial, online and diasporic, and local language newspapers. The chapter explores the questions, where do each of the existing newspapers such as the Punch, Tribune, Guardian, Daily Trust, Leadership and the Nation fall in these categories, and how is the conflict between herdsmen and farmers reported in Nigerian newspapers. In this chapter, you will find the circumstances that gave birth to the Nigerian newspapers, and how the content of the newspapers responds to specific challenges. The historical origin of the newspapers, the nature of ownership and the transformations undergone by the newspapers both during colonialism and after independence have been reviewed. The chapter also looks at the concept of press freedom, the various approaches to understanding the concept, the criteria for evaluating press freedom, the kind of freedom enjoyed by the press in Nigeria, as well as the constitutional provisions of press freedom in the Nigerian constitution. Newspapers in Nigeria, such as the West African Pilot led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, have played a significant role in fighting for Nigerian independence; this and also the diversity of the debate in Nigerian newspapers, such as the argument over the status of Lagos as federal capital, are discussed.