A day the writers of Nigeria’s destiny met the architect of Nigeria’s politics

BY ABIMBOLA TOOKI

For 21 years, Nigerian editors waited.
Waited like farmers wait for rain…
Like Lagosians wait for fuel scarcity to end…
Like civil servants wait for promotion letters that mysteriously disappear and reappear during the next administration.

But the long wait finally ended.

For the first time in the history of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), a sitting president physically walked into their annual convention to declare it open. The largest gathering of Nigeria’s editors, media leaders, grammar jugglers, headline inventors, agenda setters, and professional critics finally hosted the Commander-in-Chief live and direct, not via recorded video, not via representative, and not via “the president sends his regrets.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself showed up.

But before he came, he tested our patience, as expected of any Nigerian VIP.

THE TWO-HOUR SIEGE

Editors arrived sharp and prompt, because journalists don’t joke with time.
But as the first hour passed… then the second… the rumour mill started grinding:

“Maybe he’s stuck in traffic.”
“But he came with a convoy, convoy no dey see traffic!”
“Maybe there’s urgent national assignment.”
“Maybe he has changed his mind.”
“Maybe this is a prank.”

At some point, one editor sighed, “If he doesn’t come, we will still write it anyway.”

But then, like a Nollywood climax, sirens shattered the tension.
Security men straightened.
Phones slid back into pockets.
Chairs stopped creaking.

He came in.

And just like that, the hall forgot the two-hour wait. One thing Nigerians are good at is instantly forgiving VIP lateness when they finally arrive. Maybe it’s grace. Maybe it’s survival instinct.

Either way, the editors stood up.

THE EDITORS PRESENT THEIR BURDEN

When it was time to welcome Mr. President, the NGE President, Eze Anaba, spoke like a man carrying the burden of an entire profession on his shoulders. He knew this was a once-in-a-generation opportunity, the type that journalists can’t afford to misuse.

He laid out the media industry’s challenges not with tears, but with the dignity of a man saying:

“Mr. President, if you won’t help us, at least don’t let us die honourably during your tenure.”

He enumerated the issues with elegance and urgency. But he also added humour, wisdom, and strategy, the kind you use when addressing a man who controls the country’s economic oxygen.

HERE’S WHAT THE EDITORS ASKED FOR, IN SIMPLE NIGERIAN ENGLISH:

1. Corporate Tax Relief

“Sir, allow media houses to breathe small. Just for 5–10 years. Before we turn newspapers to pure-water nylon and rent out newsrooms as wedding halls.”

2. VAT Exemption on Media Tools

“If a laptop is now expensive like one plot of land, how do we work? Canada, India, and South Africa exempt their media from VAT. We are not too small to copy good things.”

3. Tax Credits for Advertisers

“So that big corporations will bring their adverts home — not to South African TV, not to Dubai-based platforms, not to foreign digital giants. Let them support our journalism.”

4. Access to Low-Interest Loans

“To replace cameras older than 30 years. Some of those cameras covered the 1999 handover ceremony and are still in active service.”

5. A Digital Innovation & Transition Fund

“The world has moved forward; our tools should not remain in the Stone Age of analogue. Journalism must go digital, or it will go extinct.”

Then came the big one:

LEGAL PROTECTION FOR JOURNALISTS

“Sir, remove the laws that allow anybody to arrest a journalist over Facebook comments. Protect us from misuse of cybercrime laws. Create a Media Freedom and Safety Charter backed by all arms of government.”

The hall nodded. The president listened. Democracy watched.

Eze spoke with the seriousness of an undertaker but the hope of a man who believes in the power of reform.

His closing line was a philosophical uppercut: “When the press thrives, democracy breathes. When it suffocates, democracy dies.”

It was a mic-drop moment.

TINUBU RESPONDS: HUMOUR FIRST. POLITICS SECOND. VISION THIRD.

President Tinubu, as expected, didn’t start with statistics. He started with humour.

He reminded the editors how they “dealt with him” during the 2023 elections; the harsh headlines, the biting editorials, the unrelenting scrutiny, and the vigorous fact-checking that gave his media team sleepless nights.

The hall erupted in laughter.

But he was gracious about it. After all, Nigerian politics is impossible without Nigerian journalism. They fight in the day, dine in the evening, and quote each other at night.

Then he advised:

“Critique government boldly, but be fair.
Report truthfully.
Don’t tear down Nigeria through sensational headlines.
Let your aim be to build the nation.”

Then he addressed the economy:

“Reforms are painful but necessary.
We are stabilising the economy.
We are restoring investor confidence.
We are positioning the country for long-term growth.”

He acknowledged the hardship, but insisted progress was emerging.

The editors listened. Not because they agreed entirely, but because they understood governance is not a small boy’s job.

He ended with a philosophical call:

“Let us choose clarity over confusion.
Responsibility over recklessness.
Hope over despair.”

Strong. Measured. Presidential.

BUT THE REAL FIREWORK STARTED WITH HOPE UZODIMMA

Then came Governor Hope Uzodimma, the keynote speaker of the day.

He didn’t come with a microphone.
He came with missiles loaded with grammar.

He began by exposing a “clever editorial mischief”:

“You accepted responsibility in your theme for democratic governance… but you avoided responsibility in the sub-theme on electoral integrity and trust deficit. Editors, una try o! But you can’t escape.”

The hall burst into sharp, guilty laughter.

He continued:

“If you shape public opinion, you shape democracy.
If you shape democracy, you shape elections.
If you shape elections, you shape trust.
Therefore, you cannot dodge responsibility.”

The man delivered truth like a seasoned surgeon.

He quoted Stephen Ward on journalism ethics, emphasising that:

Objectivity is not laziness.
Neutrality is not silence.
Every editorial decision is interpretation.”

Uzodimma was not just giving a keynote; he was giving a masterclass.

THE BIG QUESTION NOW

Will President Tinubu and his administration act on the editors’ requests?

Will the promises made translate into policy?

Will the media enjoy relief instead of raids?

The editors, being naturally sceptical professionals, left with one prayer:

“Dear Lord, let the president remember our demands BEFORE he sends his agbada to the dry cleaners.”

Because once that cloth enters the washing machine, the folded request paper is gone forever.

THE DEMOCRATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAY

Beyond the humour, the history, and the political jabs, the day marked a powerful moment for Nigeria’s democracy.

A president stood before 500 editors.
The editors stood before the president.
And both sides talked, not shouted.
Listened, not attacked.
Proposed, not threatened.

This is what democracy looks like when it is trying its best.

IN THE END…

When Tinubu meets 500 editors… the nation pays attention.
When editors question power… democracy grows teeth.
When leaders and the media engage sincerely… the future becomes brighter.

For now, the editors wait.
Tinubu thinks.
Uzodimma has dropped his bombshells.
The media industry hopes.
And Nigeria watches.

Because in the end:

A nation becomes the stories it tells itself.
And the editors are the ones holding the pen.

Peter Obi didn’t disappoint the editors
Peter Obi was also a guest at the editors’ meeting, where he reportedly used almost 80 percent of his allotted time not to engage the editors on fresh ideas, but to launch yet another round of criticism against government policies. And while this is familiar territory for him, many Nigerians are beginning to raise their eyebrows.

Peter Obi has built a reputation on sharp lamentations and piercing critiques of Nigeria’s governance failures, but more Nigerians are now asking a tougher, unavoidable question: Where are the solutions? For all his passionate speeches and moral urgency, he is not widely known for presenting comprehensive, actionable, and innovative strategies capable of moving the nation forward.

They said, “Obi is always lamenting.” And yes, because you cannot be a normal human being in a country where abnormality has become official policy. If you walk past suffering every day and say nothing, then something has died inside you,” he told the editors.

Increasingly, citizens, especially those who once wrapped their hopes around his candidacy, insist that it is no longer sufficient for Obi to simply spotlight what is wrong. Nigerians are exhausted by mere diagnosis; they want a cure. They want him to move beyond the comfort zone of criticism and offer concrete plans that show he has the intellectual depth and practical ideas to confront Nigeria’s challenges.

If he truly represents a viable alternative, then this is the moment to prove it—by not only telling the country what is broken, but by articulating, clearly and convincingly, how he intends to fix it.

Tooki is a founder /editor, communication strategist, and public relations expert. He can be reached via [email protected].

Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.