By: Frank Ofili
ANIOMA HEROES: PRINCE
NDUKA OBAIGBENA (THE MEDIA COLOSSUS)
Prince Nduka Obaigbena (a.k.a. The Duke) is the Chairman/CEO Leaders & Company, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman ThisDay Newspapers. A prince of Owa Oyibu, born in Ibadan, Oyo State on 14th July 1959 to the family of late Prince Ukperi and Princess Margaret Obaigbena, Nduka attended the prestigious Edo College, Benin City and the University of Benin where he bagged an honours degree in Creative Arts.
Nduka has had a rich journalism career starting with the Nigeria Observer in 1978, later became co-ordinating editor of The Dawn magazine. He also worked for the international news magazines – Newsweek and Time International. In 1986, at the young age of 26, he founded ThisWeek Magazine, thus becoming the youngest publisher in Nigeria, or perhaps in Africa. In 1991 he ran for the Senate, and in 1994 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Conference which drafted the current (1999) Nigeria Constitution. In 1990 he was appointed a member of the sub-committee of the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization which executed the privatization programme of the Babangida administration. He was also a member of the Delta State Government Think-Tank that wrote the blue-print for the economic revitalization of Delta State. In partnership with the IMF he convened the Nigeria Investment Summit in 1997 in Washington DC. He has been keynote speaker at several national and international fora, including the World Bank and IMF-sponsored Poverty Reduction Strategy conferences in Dakar, Senegal and Washington DC.
He also founded several socio-cultural initiatives including the ThisDay Music and Fashion Festival, The African Fashion Collective of the New York fashion Week as well as in London, Paris and Milan fashion Week. Arise Magazine, an African culture and style magazine is also under his stable. Nduka is also founder of ThisDay Awards which showcases the best and brightest of corporate Nigeria, and also promoting good governance. In 2007 he hosted “Nigeria Meets the World” in New York which attracted several world political and business leaders. He is also a member of the Nominating Committee of the Young Global Leaders Forum in Davos, Switzerland and regularly moderates sessions with world leaders for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dalian, China, and Cape Town. Nduka Obaigbena is a trail blazer. His ThisDay newspaper set the trend in colour paging and is printed simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja. In 2005 ThisDay made an entry into the South media market, thus making Nduka the first Nigerian publisher to go global.
But it has not been all rosy for Nduka. His first newsmagazine, ThisWeek did not last long in the market. The all-gloss magazine was being printed in England, so when General Babangida’s government deregulated the foreign exchange market and the naira began a downward slide against other major currencies like the US dollar and the British pound sterling, it took a toll on the operation and funding of the magazine and it eventually went out of the streets and died.
Nduka’s shot at the Senate in 1991 was not successful either. And just recently ThisDay offices in Kaduna and Abuja were bombed by Boko Haram, claiming lives. In 2002 the offices of ThisDay was plundered and burned by Islamic fundamentalists who were denouncing the Miss World pageant. In December 2006, the paper’s editorial board chairman, Godwin Agbroko was assassinated. Finally, during the draconian Abacha regime, Nduka was arrested and detained. Upon release from detention, he went into exile, returning only after General Abacha’s death in 1998.
Nduka Obaigbena is a shrewd mobilizer and deployer of resources – financial, material and human. A quiet and unpretentious media colossus, his impact has largely been transformational. Although having not much experience in politics, he is nevertheless, detribalized, accommodating and knows his way around government circles. He also has a good grass-root reach. He connects well with the youth not only of his native Owa kingdom, but also Nigeria at large. He is a strong voice in media circles and is well respected all over the country.
Prince Nduka Obaigbena (a.k.a. The Duke) is the Chairman/CEO Leaders & Company, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman ThisDay Newspapers. A prince of Owa Oyibu, born in Ibadan, Oyo State on 14th July 1959 to the family of late Prince Ukperi and Princess Margaret Obaigbena, Nduka attended the prestigious Edo College, Benin City and the University of Benin where he bagged an honours degree in Creative Arts.
Nduka has had a rich journalism career starting with the Nigeria Observer in 1978, later became co-ordinating editor of The Dawn magazine. He also worked for the international news magazines – Newsweek and Time International. In 1986, at the young age of 26, he founded ThisWeek Magazine, thus becoming the youngest publisher in Nigeria, or perhaps in Africa. In 1991 he ran for the Senate, and in 1994 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Conference which drafted the current (1999) Nigeria Constitution. In 1990 he was appointed a member of the sub-committee of the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization which executed the privatization programme of the Babangida administration. He was also a member of the Delta State Government Think-Tank that wrote the blue-print for the economic revitalization of Delta State. In partnership with the IMF he convened the Nigeria Investment Summit in 1997 in Washington DC. He has been keynote speaker at several national and international fora, including the World Bank and IMF-sponsored Poverty Reduction Strategy conferences in Dakar, Senegal and Washington DC.
He also founded several socio-cultural initiatives including the ThisDay Music and Fashion Festival, The African Fashion Collective of the New York fashion Week as well as in London, Paris and Milan fashion Week. Arise Magazine, an African culture and style magazine is also under his stable. Nduka is also founder of ThisDay Awards which showcases the best and brightest of corporate Nigeria, and also promoting good governance. In 2007 he hosted “Nigeria Meets the World” in New York which attracted several world political and business leaders. He is also a member of the Nominating Committee of the Young Global Leaders Forum in Davos, Switzerland and regularly moderates sessions with world leaders for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dalian, China, and Cape Town. Nduka Obaigbena is a trail blazer. His ThisDay newspaper set the trend in colour paging and is printed simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja. In 2005 ThisDay made an entry into the South media market, thus making Nduka the first Nigerian publisher to go global.
But it has not been all rosy for Nduka. His first newsmagazine, ThisWeek did not last long in the market. The all-gloss magazine was being printed in England, so when General Babangida’s government deregulated the foreign exchange market and the naira began a downward slide against other major currencies like the US dollar and the British pound sterling, it took a toll on the operation and funding of the magazine and it eventually went out of the streets and died.
Nduka’s shot at the Senate in 1991 was not successful either. And just recently ThisDay offices in Kaduna and Abuja were bombed by Boko Haram, claiming lives. In 2002 the offices of ThisDay was plundered and burned by Islamic fundamentalists who were denouncing the Miss World pageant. In December 2006, the paper’s editorial board chairman, Godwin Agbroko was assassinated. Finally, during the draconian Abacha regime, Nduka was arrested and detained. Upon release from detention, he went into exile, returning only after General Abacha’s death in 1998.
Nduka Obaigbena is a shrewd mobilizer and deployer of resources – financial, material and human. A quiet and unpretentious media colossus, his impact has largely been transformational. Although having not much experience in politics, he is nevertheless, detribalized, accommodating and knows his way around government circles. He also has a good grass-root reach. He connects well with the youth not only of his native Owa kingdom, but also Nigeria at large. He is a strong voice in media circles and is well respected all over the country.
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