ONLY a market leader desirous of not only sustaining its high rating but also breaking new grounds will show care for its customers. And that was exactly what the flagship of Nigerian journalism, The Guardian did on Tuesday night when it held a stakeholders forum at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos with the aim of reaffirming its commitment to its partners in the publishing business.The forum also provided an opportunity to assess the paper as a premium brand of choice and the direction to take in the years ahead with stakeholders making input.The forum provided advertisers, newspaper distributors and readers alike an opportunity to meet in a relaxed atmosphere of conviviality. Top officials of the company present at the event included Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Maiden Ibru; the Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Alex Thomopulos; Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Emeka Eluem Izeze; the Editor/Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Debo Adesina; Chairman, Editorial Board, Dr. Reuben Abati; Executive Directors, Toke Alex-Ibru and Tive Alex-Ibru; Editor, The Guardian on Saturday, Mr. Felix Abugu; Acting Editor, The Guardian on Sunday, Ehichioya Ezomon; and Controller (Adverts), Mr. Henry Onifade, among others.Some dignitaries from the Ibru family in attendance were Olorogun Felix Ibru, Mr. Goodie Ibru and Olorogun Oscar Ibru.Invited guests were President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Gbenga Adefaye; President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mr. Funmi Onabolu; former chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), May Nzeribe; Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, Alhaji Wahaab Alabi Oba. The list is inexhaustible.In her opening remarks, Mrs. Maiden Ibru said the forum offered another opportunity for the company and its partners to interact and discuss the successes as well as the mistakes and how best the newspaper could be made to move forward.She recounted the tough business environment in which newspapers generally were operating in the country. She recounted some of the challenges the paper was facing thus: Times are very tough and the newspaper industry is not as easy as people think it is.Can you imagine a day when you stop printing at 8.00 a.m. When would the paper get to Benin and other places And our readers would be waiting endlessly. These are problems we are faced with on a daily basis, but we do know that friends of the house will continue to read the paper and we know we cant do it on our own. We know we need you the distributors, advertisers, the readers.Generally speaking, we want to see how we can move things forward. We have plans to resolve the situation up there in the East, where we need to situate a press somewhere in Port Harcourt and Abuja. We cant rely on the airlines as flights are cancelled at will. We are open to criticism and we will also accept your suggestions on how to move the company forward.On his part, the Managing Director, Mr. Emeka Izeze, expressed his appreciation to the guests who had honoured the invitation, saying it was a mark of commitment to the ideals The Guardian holds dear. He remarked: The presence of those who have come here tonight we cant just underestimate. We have seen people who say they have all the copies of The Guardian from day one and some who say they could be regarded as members of the family because they have been reading the paper from day one and that they follow trends in the paper.Izeze also took time to recount some of the harrowing periods the paper went through in its almost 28 years of existence. Not least among them were periods the paper was shut down for a year and a fire bombing that were both orchestrated by the then military government of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.In his goodwill message, President of AAAN, Mr. Onabolu showered praises on The Guardian for the depth of information and the consistency that the newspaper has come to be associated with over the years. He also enthused that the paper had attained the status of an international brand comparable to any newspaper anywhere in the world. He prayed for the papers longevity.Real estate magnate, Chidi Obosi from Obosi Eleh & Co, however, offered that cost of advertising in the paper should be priced a little lower to attract more people, especially those in the real estate business.Director of Finance at KPMG, Mrs. Abiola Bada commended The Guardian for the intellectual depth of reportage, saying it was the kind of paper those who work in her company patronised. She offered: My organisation has been associating with The Guardian in the past 15 years. We hold The Guardian as a source of intellectual stimulation for our people and serve Nigeria even more. The comment or opinion pages always provoke serious debate among the employees and they analyse these opinions in the paper.A key newspaper distributor Mr. Awojobi, praised the management for doing a good job, saying it wasnt easy managing people and the paper.A toast was proposed by the Editor, Mr. Adesina, to the effect that Nigerias unity, peace and progress remain just as the country had just concluded a presidential election.The COO, Dr. Thomopolus restated the uniqueness of The Guardian as a quality that stood it out from the crowd. He maintained that all comments from stakeholders would be looked into with a view to using them to improve the paper.
Click here to read full news..
