By Angela Nkwocha
The defunct West African Pilot News is set to bounce back by 1st January, 2020 on the Nigerian News space, two Professors from the School of Communication, Texas Southern University Dr. Chris Chinweuba Ulasi, and Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo, has revealed their intent of resuscitating the news tabloid.
The News medium which is packaged to be a new year gift to Nigerians and Africans in general on an online platform is coming to reawaken a new spirit of Zikism in Nigeria and Africa.
Recall that the first Governor General of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (“Zik”) on November 22, 1937, established a news publication called The West African Pilot with the major aim to fight for independence of Nigeria, as well as other African countries from the British colonial rule.
Azikiwe personally edited the West African Pilot from 1937 to 1947. The quality of the publication won the heart of both the colonialists and indigenes yearning for self-resurgence.
The newspaper which championed national awareness and nationalistic ideas in the populace with its motto, “Show the Light and the People will Find the Way”, went out of business in 1967 following the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70). Since then, major attempts to resuscitate this publication was suppressed by the mainstream political elite, who feared that it might accord the people an unprecedented voice over a contentious leadership structure.
Dr. Chris Chinweuba Ulasi, and Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo, have taken the bull by the horn to resuscitate the West African Pilot News, invoking the same fighting spirit of the 30s, to once more give the common man a voice over a surmounting political, social, and economic environment.
The motto of the West African Pilot News (www.westafricanpilotnews.com) is “The Spirit of Investigative Journalism.
Shedding more light on the it, Dr. Ulasi, had said “In an era with the influx of technology applications and availability of inexpensive publishing tools, the news industry has been under the threat of awfully substandard news delivery. Our platform is a trusted information hub for Africa and the African diaspora.”
On his part, Dr. Ogbo said, ‘‘In sub-Saharan regions where democracy is under threat and freedom of speech not often guaranteed, the editorial team at the West African Pilot believes that a fearless and trusted voice was necessary.
“Protection of the First Amendment rights might not just be enough in sustaining a free society. We must also give people the platform to tell their stories their way. We are bound to fail when we allow others to tell our stories.”
‘‘We have arrived, and we are sustaining the indefatigable spirit of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and what was left of the Pilot in 1967,” said Dr. Ogbo.
Reports are in place to represent various cities, political interests, and ideologies. For example, The Pilot Business (PB), is structured as a West African leading financial outlet, furnishing readers with routine corporate, financial, economic, and political news; Pilot TV is broadcast online, targeting news and events in the Sub Saharan Africa with emphasis to Nigeria; the Africa Pilot reports Africa to the World and the World to Africa.
