By Emma Udeagha
February 1, 2023 was a day Chuka Nnabuife, former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Anambra State’s defunct newspaper, National Light, will never forget in a hurry.
That morning began like every other. He arrived at the Ifite- Awka headquarters, greeted staff, and prepared for the day’s editorial meeting. But the atmosphere was different. Tension hung in the newsroom. The major engagement on his calendar was not with advertisers or with columnists. It was an emergency meeting with his management team to confront a rumour that had haunted them for months: that the Anambra State Government was about to shut down National Light.
For a long time, Nnabuife and his team had been fighting to keep the paper afloat. Government subvention, the monthly allocation meant to cover salaries, newsprint, diesel, and distribution, had become erratic. Circulation had dropped, not because readers had lost interest, but because the distribution channels could no longer reach every town. The advertisement department was under the most pressure. In a depressed economy, it was increasingly difficult to convince businesses to buy space.
On February 8, 2023, the rumour became official policy. The Anambra State Executive Council [ANSEC] confirmed the resolution it took at its February 1 meeting: to wind up the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation, publishers of National Light, _Ka O Di Taa, and _Sportslight Extra.
The communication was swift. A memo dated July 21, 2023 from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government directed the corporation to commence winding down. Another letter from the Head of Service, also dated July 21, directed the organization to cease operations with effect from September 1, 2023.
Staff were disengaged. Equipment was tagged and the presses fell silent.
For Nnabuife, and the about 100 direct employees, it was devastating. But the damage went far beyond the payroll. In media economics, every one job in a newspaper creates at least three others. The newspaper vendors in Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi and elsewhere, the printers at Nnewi, the food vendors and okada riders around the Awka office — an entire micro-economy built over 35 years was bankrupted overnight.
Three years on, National Light is gone, but the debate has not died.
The internal justification for the closure of the paper was fiscal responsibility. ANPC was described by the Anambra state government as “moribund, economically unviable, and no longer fit for purpose.” In the language of governance, sometimes you must make hard choices.
And so, buried as it is, National Light continues to dominate conversations across Anambra and Nigeria.
Ordinary citizens still ask at motor parks and town union meetings: when is National Light coming back?.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Anambra State Council has remained the loudest voice in the ‘bring back National Light campaign’. At every congress, at every meeting with government officials, the demand is the same: bring back the paper. Their argument is constitutional and moral. Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution charges the press to hold government accountable. A state-owned newspaper is a direct instrument for that duty. It is not meant to out-sell the ‘Vanguard’ or the ‘Guardian’. It is meant to serve and the mission of the press is essentially that of service.
Such calls have also come from the loyal readers of defunct National Light and subscribers — teachers, civil servants, traditional rulers, and market women — who still ask, “When is National Light coming back?”
Perhaps the most passionate allies are journalism students and scholars across Nigeria. In departments at UNIZIK, UNN, and BUK, National Light is taught as a case study. Not just as a failure, but as a paper that, for decades, stood for social justice. It campaigned against erosion in Nanka and Agulu. It amplified the voices of farmers. It was being vindicated for its mission when the lights were put out.
The demand for return of the National Light is not sentimental. It’s strategic.
Right now, every MDA in Anambra State spends millions quarterly to publish public notices. Tenders, health campaigns, budget breakdowns, and policy explanations all go into privately owned newspapers and broadcast media outfits at commercial rates.
These rates are not designed for public service. They are designed for profit. A full-page advert can cost hundreds of thousands. At certain times the rates double. The result is simple: taxpayers’ money is used to build private media brands, while government has zero control over timing, placement, or frequency.
Obviously, owning a print medium flips this model. The major costs become fixed: staff, printing press maintenance, and newsprint. After that, whether you publish 1 page or 12 pages, the marginal cost is small. Over a 4-year administration, the amount spent by the Soludo administration on adverts in 3-4 private dailies is more than enough to run a lean, modern state press and still own the asset. It is not an expense. It is an investment that pays for itself.
These days misinformation travels faster than facts. The social media is full of half-truths about government policy. The gap between government and the people has never been wider.
A state-owned newspaper is the official record. It is where policy is explained in detail. It is where citizens can track what government promised and what it has delivered.National Light did this for 35 years. It reported Governor Soludo’s road projects, his solution to the erosion menace, and his economic agenda. It published the names of beneficiaries of government programmes.
Unfortunately, that position is gone, since September 2023.
Information now goes through paid advertisement and broadcasts.
The result today is delay, distortion and distrust.
Without National Light, government is forced to beg for space in papers that may not share its priorities. With it, information went out immediately, accurately, and affordably.
Anambra is open for business. Hence, Investors in Lagos, Abuja, London, and Houston need to know about the state’s potentials in agriculture, technology, culture manufacturing and entertainment.
A revived _National Light can be that vehicle. Imagine a monthly “Invest Anambra” magazine, printed by the state press and distributed at international investment forums. Imagine special supplements on the Anambra Digital Tribe, the Chinua Achebe Airport, on the Ekwulobia flyover, and on the new Anambra fun city.
You cannot do that effectively by buying space in private papers. You do it by owning the platform. The paper can also generate revenue by taking adverts from banks, telecoms, and SMEs, making it self-sustaining.
This is where National Light truly mattered. Its weekly Igbo edition, Ka O Di Taa, was the first of its kind in Nigeria. It allowed elders in rural communities who do not read English to get firsthand information about their local government and the state. It published obituaries, birthdays, and community news that no Lagos-based paper would ever carry.
National Light gave small advertisers, the vulcanizer in Nkpor, the fashion designer in Ekwulobia, an affordable platform. For 35 years, it was the archive of Anambra’s history, triumphs and tragedies.
However , no discussion about National Light can be complete without mentioning Governor Charles Soludo.
Interestingly, before 2022, Soludo’s relationship with the press was exemplary. As Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Soludo was a journalists’ delight. He held regular briefings on his 13-point reform agenda. He respected the media as partners in nation-building.
That is why the closure of _National Light in 2023 caused so much debate. To many observers, it signaled a shift.
The reason given was “unprofitability.” But this is where we must separate the politics of finance from the politics of social justice. Newspapers are not money spinning ventures. You cannot measure their value in terms of naira and Kobo because they are institutions of public memory, accountability and identity. Similarly, no public university is expected to make profit like a private business school or a public hospital expected to have the return on investment of a private clinic.
State owned media exist for public good.
Unfortunately, the old ANPC model failed because It was run more like a government PR department, which scared advertisers and potential clients away and made the paper both timid and burdensome .
But the answer is not to demolish the house because the roof is leaking. The answer is to renovate it.
National Light was not alone. The Statesman: in Imo and The Pointer in Delta faced the same fate. The problem was structural. They were seen as government mouthpieces, so the public did not trust them.
Because they were often not objective, advertisers saw no value and went to independent papers.
Above all,they were still running 1990’s operations in a 2020’s world.
Therefore, to bring National Light back under the same model would be to repeat the mistake. The solution is reform.
The case being made for the newspaper is not for a return to ‘business as usual’.
The model being proposed is ‘Public-Private Partnership’, with Government retaining a 40% equity and a golden share, to protect public interest, while private investors and professional media managers take 60% and run day-to-day operations. Their editorial independence must also be guaranteed by law, while Staff strength should be based on relevance and need, not politics.
The envisaged ‘new’ National Light should build a paywall for premium investigative content and print two times a week with daily update of the website and social media.
Beyond adverts, the paper should run events, training, and special publications. A “Made in Anambra” trade fair organized by National Light can generate huge revenue for the State.
By law, a certain number of pages each week must be dedicated to government information at production cost. This guarantees communication while protecting the paper’s commercial viability.
This model ensures that the Paper is not a drain on the treasury, but a contributor and The ‘Guardian’ in the UK and ‘Daily Nation’ in Kenya are known to use variations of this model.
Governor Soludo’s agenda is built on “leaving no one behind.” It would be an ironic twist of history if National Light, the very institution created to ensure no community is left behind in information, was the one left behind.
As Anambra State marks 35 years, Governor Soludo has a legacy decision to make. His administration is about ‘ building a livable and prosperous homeland ‘ But a homeland cannot be livable if the people are not adequately informed.
There is no more befitting gift to Ndi Anambra and to the NUJ than the approval to return National Light under this new PPP arrangement.
Governor Soludo is the only “surgeon” who can perform this life-saving operation. The opportunity is here and history beckons.
Bringing back National Light is not about looking back. It is about building forward.
It is about saving money.
It is about better communication and
about jobs for our youths.
and about accountability.
It will be the joy of millions to see National Light back on the newstands, not as a relic, but as a rebirth.
A new National Light that saves and serves is the National Light Anambra needs now.