For us at The Abuja Inquirer, today marks a major milestone: It’s the 20th anniversary of the day, Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital City, and indeed Nigeria was blessed with our presence.
Since we hit the Newsstands on Monday, March 4, 2004, we have grown from strength to strength, earning in the process, a deserved reputation and one of the best newspapers in Abuja and indeed Nigeria.
Our consistency in coming out every week makes us Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory’s longest running tabloid.
The choice of the name The Abuja Inquirer was deliberate: Every major city deserves its own newspaper and in our case we were set up to as a regional newspaper to fill the void of a credible voice to tell the Abuja story.
And for 20 years, we have stayed faithful to the course and weathered many a storm while others got marooned and wrecked by economic torrents.
The Abuja Inquirer was founded on the vision of providing a credible platform for the bourgeoning Federal Capital Territory, but with a national outlook.
It’s the brainchild of Dan Akpovwa, Journalist, Thinker and Media Strategist. it was not just a happenstance, but a fulfilment of a vision to do something differently and with integrity and excellence.
Mr. Akpovwa in his own words, “I wanted a return to regional journalism and I felt that Lagos was already saturated with the news media. Abuja was an uncharted territory. They tried to do Abuja Newsday long ago, but it failed. I grew up in Warri in the then Midwestern State and we had The Observer newspaper.
“In the East, there was Daily Star; In the West, there was Sketch and Tribune; In the North, there was New Nigerian; In Jos, there was Nigerian Standard. The Daily Times was more national. So, we had strong regional newspapers.
He spoke further: “For The Abuja Inquirer, we wanted a newspaper which would cater to the city. When we started, a lot of people said that the name would be a hindrance when it came to advertising. I insisted that we would go with the name. Udo Silas with whom I had worked with me at ThisDay was our first editor and he did a tremendous job.
“We took over the city by storm. Suddenly we became the newspaper of record: The major Advertisers took notice and came to us in droves. We made our mark and people started reckoning with us. We had stories that even the national and International newspapers were quoting and citing. If there were some major stories in the federal capital, the major newspapers called us for more insight.”
Over the years, the newspaper has kept fidelity to being a weekly and regional newspaper despite persuasions from different quarters to do otherwise.
Owing to the strangulating economic situation over the years which has seen several publications go under and lose its editorial independence, the management of The Abuja Inquirer always believed that being consistent and staying true to the founding ideals were more important. We have since been proven right. The Abuja Inquirer is renowned for its extensive diplomatic coverage and was in no small measure the toast of the diplomatic corps.
Its longevity has also to do with the fact that it has built a heritage of trust and reliability amongst the reading public and advertisers.
For two decades the newspaper has resonated with the people, and held to account especially those in the FCT administration so much so that a former minister of the territory even on his sick bed quipped, “Don’t fail to monitor that paper (The Abuja Inquirer) because I think they see into my thoughts and can publish it.” Such was the force and painstaking effort of the reporters and editors of the newspaper.
However, with the sprouting of many media outlets especially online publications, the newspaper has not lost its sheen of being a credible alternative in an era of sensationalism and click baits.
As the paper marks its 20 years on the stable, it is a testament to all those who have worked there, the advertisers who have trusted us as a reliable brand and the readers who have kept faith with us.
It is poignant to state that the newspaper will not shirk its principles because it believes that it is a sacred trust.
Here is to many more years of service to Abuja and Nigeria
