Benue: One state, 59 newspapers

Against this background, patronage of the local newspapers by government was high at the detriment of national dailies during election period. The state Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Board of Internal Revenue Service boosted their business by placing averts in many of the local papers. Statistics available shows that at least […]

Against this background, patronage of the local newspapers by government was high at the detriment of national dailies during election period. The state Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Board of Internal Revenue Service boosted their business by placing averts in many of the local papers. Statistics available shows that at least 59 local newspapers are currently on the news stand in the state and they are doing well.

Before this time, Independent Publishers Association of Nigeria (IPAN) in the state had registered over 29 newspapers for its membership. Some of these newspapers comes out on monthly and forthnightly basis, none of them till now publish as weekly. The likes of The Alternative,  The Pavilion, The New Time, and The Radiance ranked among the major local newspapers that come out regularly in the state.

Following the alleged refusal of IPAN leadership to  absorb some of the local newspapers in the state into its membership fold, another group called Private Print and Electronic Media Association (PPEMA) emerged with its own twenty three membership.

Some of the publishers of these local newspapers in defence of their mission have argued that they are out to stem the tide of unemployment in the state by complementing the effort of government.

The publisher of The Radiance Newspaper, Terver Jime, who holds a masters degree in Mass Communication at the Benue State University, Makurdi, told Sunday Trust that his decision to go into publishing rather than take appointment with a national daily was borne out of his desire to create employment opportunities for the young graduates roaming the street in search of jobs that are not readily available.

He observed that the research he carried out revealed that over 95% of the rural communities in Benue State are not being reported about their potentials in the arts of pot-making, craft, sports, birth and death rates, noting that they also don’t have a say in the political decision making even at the local community level. Hence, he said, the need to avail them with the opportunity to reach out to them.

Decrying the high level of quackery in the newspaper industry, Mr. Jime attributed the menace to the inability of the state government to create job opportunities for the young graduates even in government owned publishing outfits in Benue State.

However, the Publisher of Frontline-News, one of the major local newspapers in the state, Mr. Edward Kwaghaondo has argued that the mission of many of these newspapers is  to keep track of being the watch dog of the ordinary in the society.  He lamented the hardship they go through to produce these newspapers declaring that the journey has not been an easy one.

“Seven years of publication is a journey full of frustration. Directors of the company want independence and does not believe in partnership but rather individual ownership. My target coverage and reach is the whole country but for now I’m covering only six states of the federation with staff strength of ten editorial members and two administrative personnel,” he said.

On salary, the publisher said he has adopted what he described as ‘Chinese Direct Involvement Policy’ (CDIP) which spells out that if a staff brought an advert of N100, 000 he will take 40% of it and the company will retain the remaining 60%.

He decried the zero level of patronage by individuals, corporate bodies which put their survival on the over 60% patronage they get from government.

The publisher of Weekly Insight, Mr Joseph Asawa said though the circulation strength of the eight-page newspaper is in major towns of the state such as, Gboko, Makurdi, Katsina-Ala, Adikpo, Zaki-Biam and Wukari in Taraba State, the main stay of the publication comes mostly from friends, people’s goodwill and from sales.

Mr. Asawa observed that over the years, publishers have formed the habit of not paying graduates they employ. This, he said was responsible for the graduates decision to float their own media outfit thereby given rise to local publications in the state.

“Some of the challenges are lack of facilities like cord, internet  and manpower. These have made publishers resort to a one-man-show business,” he said.

Maurice Tsav of The Alternative, submitted that newspaper publishing is a capital intensive business. Besides, he posited  that  those who jumped into the business are not finding it easy because what is been published has not satisfy the taste of readers hence the low patronage. He said the public is tired of what government always claim to have done which are not there.

“There has to be an alternative medium to tell the story of what government has not done it is easy to win readers mind and tie their loyalty to the paper once what they want to read is  published. They will go for it. Over the years, I have done that and I’m not complaining of patronage at all,” he said.