The ''West African Pilot'' was a newspaper launched in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
by
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the n ...
("Zik") in 1937, dedicated to fighting for independence from
British colonial rule
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. It is most known for introducing popular journalism within Nigeria. The main focus of the newspaper was to promote Nigerian independence from colonial rule.
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
was a topic often used within the
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
to promote these various arguments of independence. With humanistic language and powerful ideas, the ''West African Pilot'' successfully promoted the humanity of African workers in this colonized world. The newspaper dismissed the idea that sports and politics are to be separated, further supporting African's connection to the game and adding specific cultural impact to the game itself; this supported a new kind of identity pertinent to the Nigerian people. Through fictional stories and football centered symbolism, the newspaper was even said to have, "created the possibility of a new form of imagined community", setting the stage for how a modern society should be.
Foundation and growth
When the paper was launched its quality and professionalism launched it atop other newspapers of the period which generally pandered to colonial authorities or ethnocentric interests. The most prominent newspaper that lost circulation, as a result, was the ''
Nigerian Daily Times'' originally owned by the Mirror Group of London.
The paper's lively mix of radical politics and gossip, plus a woman's page, was highly popular.
The newspaper played a key role in the spread of racial consciousness and nationalistic ideas in the interior of Nigeria.
Its motto was "Show the light and the people will find the way".
Azikiwe personally edited the ''West African Pilot'' from 1937 to 1947.
The paper led the way for enterprising black journalism. The paper tied together the sport of soccer with social justice. Azikiwe's paper used soccer to increase the growing unpopularity of colonization in Nigeria. The paper was extremely popular, and it had a circulation of around 25,000 and a lot more readers. This paper brought fought the start of popular journalism in Nigeria.
The ''West African Pilot'' gave birth to a chain of newspapers that were positioned as city newspapers in such places as
Port Harcourt,
Warri
The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial c ...
,
Enugu
Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...
,
Ibadan
Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...
, and
Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
. All the titles were then owned by "Zik's Press Limited".
Titles included the ''Eastern Nigerian Guardian'' launched in 1940 in Port Harcourt, the ''Nigerian Spokesman'' in
Onitsha
Onitsha ( or just ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city located on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. A metropolitan city, Onitsha is known for its river port and as an economic hub for commerce, industry, and education. ...
(1943) and the ''Southern Defender'' in Warri, the "Sentinel" in Enugu.
In 1945, Zik's group bought Mohammed Ali's ''Comet'', four years later converting it into a daily newspaper and then transferring it to Kano, where it was the first daily in the north.
The ''Northern Advocate'' was also launched in 1949, in Jos.
On 8 July 1945, the government banned the ''West African Pilot'' and the ''Daily Comet'' for misrepresenting facts about the general strike. This did not silence Azikiwe, who continued to print articles and editorials on the strike in his Port Harcourt ''Guardian''.
In June 1953, Azikiwe published an issue of the paper that used soccer as a political metaphor. In the article titled "Nigeria Wins Freedom Cup in Thrilling Political Soccer," it told a story of a fictional match in which the British lost a match to Nigeria by the score of 10–0. This was one of the many ways Azikiwe influenced his readers greatly.
Ethnic tensions
Azikiwe was criticized by a section of the Yorubas for using his newspaper to suppress opposition to his views since anyone who spoke out risked being labelled an "Uncle Tom" or "imperialist stooge", and having his reputation destroyed. Azikiwe did not suffer those who wanted a divided Nigeria gladly and took particular aim at a group that was preaching politics of exclusion. The dominant party to which Azikiwe belonged was the
National Council of Nigerian Citizens
The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) later changed to the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, was a Nigerian nationalist political party from 1944 to 1966, during the period leading up to independence and immediately ...
(NCNC), a grassroots movement of students, traders, and workers. Its leader was
Herbert Macaulay
Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay (14 November 1864 – 7 May 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, surveyor, engineer, architect, journalist, and musician and is considered by many Nigerians as the founder of Nige ...
, a Yoruba, while Azikiwe served first as secretary and later assumed the chair when Macaulay died. By 1957 when elections were held in the country, the NCNC and its allies swept the polls in both east and west of the country. Azikiwe, as leader of the party, was however prevented from forming a government in the West because a few independent candidates "crossed carpet" to join the opposition which formed the government. This opposition had previously constellated in a group called
Egbe Omo Oduduwa
Egbé Ọmọ Odùduwà (Yoruba National Movement) is a Nigerian political organisation established in 1945 by Yoruba leaders in London. Its initial purpose was to unite the Yorùbá people in a manner similar to the tenets of the Ibibio State Un ...
. The ''West African Pilot'' did not pull punches in discrediting this rump group that was preaching exclusion, rather than join the fight for independence as one indivisible country called Nigeria. The group, which benefited from the "cross-carpeting" to launch to power, eventually set up a rival newspaper called the ''Daily Service''. Azikiwe did not hide his dislike for this group and used his newspaper to expose what he saw as an attempt to scuttle the battle for independence.
In the 1940s
Anthony Enahoro
Chief Anthony Eromosele Enahoro (22 July 1923 – 15 December 2010) was one of Nigeria's foremost anti-colonial and pro-democracy activists. He was born the eldest of ten children in Uromi, present-day Edo State of Nigeria. His Esan parents we ...
was an associate editor of the paper.
Abdul Karim Disu
Abdul Karim Disu (October 10, 1912 – 2000) was a Nigerian journalist, and the first Nigerian to earn a post-graduate degree in journalism when he attended Columbia University in 1944. Disu originated from Isale-Eko, Lagos and was a close friend ...
became an associate editor in 1955.
Post-independence
On 16 November 1960, Azikiwe became the Governor General of the newly independent Nigeria, while
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...
was Prime Minister.
By the 1960s, although the paper was circulated throughout the country it was particularly strong in the east.
In 1963 the major political parties proposed a "Preventative Detention Act", which would have allowed indefinite detention without trial. The ''West African Pilot'' led the outcry against this suggestion, which was dropped. However, the next year the Newspaper Amendment Act was passed, allowing punishment for reporting events that the authorities considered false.
The ''West African Pilot'' folded in 1967 following the outbreak of the
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
(1967–70). At the end of the war, there were two attempts to resuscitate the newspaper, both of which failed. The last attempt (1993) was promoted by a group of Azikiwe's political and professional allies, including Chief
Adeniran Ogunsanya
Adeniran Ogunsanya, QC, SAN (31 January 1918 – 22 November 1996) was a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He was among the chief-founders of the Ibadan Peoples Party, Ibadan Peoples Party (IPP). He served as a Lagos State commissioner for Justic ...
, Chief
Matthew Tawo Mbu
Matthew Tawo Mbu (20 November 1929 – 6 February 2012) was a Nigerian lawyer, politician, diplomat, and a permanent fixture in Nigerian political affairs for more than fifty years.
Early life
Mbu was born in Okundi, Cross River State. He rece ...
, and Chief Duro Onabule who was then spokesman for military president
Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...
. It was edited by Ogbuagu Anikwe but could not survive the skyrocketing printing materials costs after the country was embroiled in a violent election dispute over Chief
Moshood Abiola
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.
M.K.O ...
's victory on the presidential elections of that year.
References
Sources
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{{refend
Newspapers published in Nigeria
Newspapers established in 1937
Nnamdi Azikiwe