President Goodluck Jonathan will soon join the league of top politicians who are also newspaper publishers as he is about to unveil his own newspaper.
The President who is following in the footsteps of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN’s leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is the publisher of The Nation, former governor of Abia State, Kalu Orji who owns The Sun, Ex-Vice-President Alhaji Abubakar Atiku who is the publisher of Peoples Daily, and owner of Daily Independent former Delta State governor James Ibori among others, entered the fray through the Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke.
The Petroleum Minster herself is in the background but a group with the name ‘Friends of Diezani’ is fronting for her. The newspaper’s office is tucked away in posh part of Ikeja, Oduduwa GRA, and recruitment has reached fever pitch. Former This Day Newspaper’s Art Director Oby Azuru is the Managing Director and several other editorial and non-editorial staff are already shortlisted.
However one serious issue that has slow down its operation is the issue of the name the paper would bear. President Jonathan and the management team have settled for the name Nigeria Today, but the problem is that the name has already been registered with Corporate Affairs Commission by another person who is asking for compensation in the form of N100million from the President before he let go of the name.
