The Guardian@40 – Reminiscences of an era
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00:00 Founded by Mr. Alex Uruemu Ibru, The Guardian's first edition was published on the 22nd of
00:07 February 1983 as a weekly.
00:10 Five months later, it started daily publication on the 4th of July 1983.
00:16 It has sustained its intellectual bent since its first production.
00:21 We are happy that what was the earlier slogan, which was sooner or later you will read The
00:30 Guardian, is now true.
00:31 The Guardian started out as an investigative newspaper and it created a niche for itself
00:39 from the beginning.
00:41 In the 40 years of its existence, The Guardian has gone through the highs and lows.
00:46 Media suppression, high quality journalism, assassination attempts on the publisher and
00:51 ex-reporters, the return to multi-party democratic government in 1999 and many more.
00:59 In spite of all these inherent challenges in a complex multi-ethnic nation, The Guardian
01:04 has remained steadfast and at the forefront of holding leaders accountable and educating
01:09 the citizens.
01:10 Well basically our job is to hold power to account and I think that we've been doing
01:18 that.
01:19 The ideas incorporated in The Guardian and the ideas of the vision for Nigeria, they
01:29 must never be too far apart and that's why The Guardian must continue to push.
01:37 Like we all know, The Guardian is a flagship of the news media and we lead and others follow.
01:44 Being the flagship of a high quality journalism in Nigeria, like our motto says, we get the
01:49 truth and print it.
01:51 Our newspaper has produced detailed, reliable news for four decades.
01:56 You can't talk about Nigerian journalism without mentioning The Guardian in the past
02:00 40 years.
02:01 And then of course when it comes to leadership and mentorship, you get a lot of it here.
02:06 The New York Times actually put it right when it says that The Guardian is Nigeria's most
02:12 respected newspaper.
02:14 A formidable team of experienced and excellent journalists have made these phenomenal achievements
02:20 possible.
02:21 You have people with various backgrounds coming to share their experiences to look at topics.
02:30 So apart from my former education, being on the board has also been a classroom for me.
02:36 The Guardian is an intellectually driven, independent newspaper presenting balanced
02:41 and factual coverage of events in Nigeria and across the globe.
02:45 Under the enduring stewardship of a first class editorial board, comprising some of
02:50 Africa's finest brains and business icons who boast impeccable credentials and the high
02:55 standard that the founder set has remained sustained.
02:59 Our values include consistency, integrity.
03:05 Consistency is one of the core values of this newspaper.
03:08 Truth, justice, commitment.
03:11 The spirit of unity, determination and commitment.
03:16 Innovation.
03:17 The Guardian is unique.
03:20 The Guardian is independent.
03:24 Leadership and mentorship.
03:25 When you come into The Guardian at any point in time, there is a deep reservoir of talents
03:33 that you can learn from.
03:36 I came here as an IT student.
03:38 Some of us came here as an intern and through the sheer grace of God, diligence to work
03:49 and our commitment, we rose through the ranks and today I am an assistant editor.
03:57 I love The Guardian.
03:58 The majority of those that have been working with The Guardian were mentored here.
04:03 So unlike other organizations where they employ people outside.
04:09 It's a place where boys become men, where talents are nurtured and where people find
04:17 a purpose, especially if they are interested in quality journalism.
04:20 It's a brat, it's a training ground, it's an institution.
04:27 The Guardian has consistently acted as a dependable watchdog on matters that concern public and
04:33 corporate policies.
04:35 The medium was a strong voice during the struggle against military rule, with its formidable
04:39 team of experienced journalists churning out exclusive news daily to educate the citizenry.
04:45 The Guardian in 40 years has done well.
04:50 And going forward, I believe it will still do better.
04:57 But at the end of the day, it's to achieve a particular goal, which is to get the news.
05:03 And not only getting the news, the news that will shape and re-shape and refocus the country
05:09 and add value to the life of Nigerians.
05:13 Change they say is non-negotiable.
05:14 Likewise, The Guardian's commitment to excellent journalism has not and will not be negotiable.
05:22 For the employee, there's this team spirit, working together, both the operational team
05:28 and the editorial team, in order to achieve our core objective.
05:33 The Guardian will always uphold the need for justice, integrity in public life, equal access
05:39 to the nation's resources and equal protection under the laws of Nigeria for all citizens.
05:45 The Guardian continues to be the people's voice to the government and vice versa.
05:50 The publisher of the newspaper has never been part of any system.
05:55 It owes no allegiance to any political party, ethnic community, religious or other interest
06:01 group.
06:02 Its primary commitment is to the integrity and sovereignty of the Federation of Nigeria
06:07 and beyond that, the unity and freedom of Africa.
06:11 The Guardian is no longer just a newspaper house, but a multimedia group, with its interest
06:16 in film, music, digital television, magazines and lots more.
06:22 My name is Shakira Adona.
06:24 I'm a journalist.
06:25 I report for The Guardian.
06:27 The courage and professionalism that The Guardian represents have been bountifully rewarded
06:32 over time.
06:33 The harvest includes the Diamond Award for Media Excellence, the Nigeria Media Merit
06:38 Award and also being recognised by CNN Africa for Journalist of the Year Award and many
06:44 others.
06:45 The Guardian has given us the leverage to be what we want to be.
06:52 And we're not stopping there.
06:54 We're still going far.
06:56 Because the future, as far as The Guardian is concerned, is very, very, very bright.
07:02 The Guardian's logo is an ancient Egyptian symbol for conscience.
07:07 The motto, "Conscience nurtured by truth" is inspired by Osman Danfodio's saying, "Conscious
07:13 is an open wound.
07:14 Only truth can heal it."
07:17 We are now a multimedia organisation and we serve the public interest.
07:23 After 40 years of journalism, I'd like to wish The Guardian a very happy birthday.
07:29 As they say, life begins at 40 and we look forward in the future to new innovations that
07:33 we're going to be coming up with in the company.
07:35 Thank you.
07:36 [Music]
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07:45 [Music]
07:47 (gentle music)
07:49 (gentle music)