By Gbenga Adefaye
A Keynote address delivered at a Media Roundtable organised in honour of Chief Lateef Jakande, Second Republic Executive Governor of Lagos, organised by the Department of Mass Communication, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, LASUSTECH, Ikorodu, Lagos on Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Protocols.
It is both a privilege and an honour to do this Keynote at the Lateef Kayode Jakande Memorial Roundtable dedicated “to celebrate and evaluate Jakande’s transformative legacy, foster discussions that inspire current and future journalists to uphold ethical standards, public service and innovations in the media industry, thereby preserving his (LKJ’s) monumental influence for generations.”
This is an engagement that was impossible to decline, even as it clashes with another one of its types being hosted by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), same hour, today in Lagos. Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ) aka John West was the founding President of the NGE as well as the founding President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in 1961. That was five years after he was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Tribune newspapers by Chief Obafemi Awolowo SAN. LKJ’s International Press Institute (IPI) leadership in 1963 founded the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos where I presently serve as Provost.
To do this talk is to honour a cherished memory for the incomparable roles played by Jakande in the development of robust journalism in Nigeria as an editor, media leader and administrator and trainer who saw tomorrow (emphasis tomorrow).
All that he did for journalism was, in a sense, preparing our media for the kind of transition that we now experience. From the examples of his practice and style, the deliberate and studious organisation of men and resources, erecting strong pillars of institutions to safeguard press freedom and training in the incubator/NIJ of the cub journalists for quality practice, LKJ was clearly ahead of his time.
Jakande was more documented as a politician of the left-of-centre, an Obafemi Awolowo acolyte and Governor of Lagos in the Second Republic between 1979 and 1983 than as a journalist. Yet, here was the journalism titan once described by Lade Bonuola (Ladbone), former Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian newspapers, Lagos as “someone who came into journalism sharing the philosophy of James Reston, the celebrated two time, Pulitzer Prize winner, columnist and editor of the New York Times -who said that because the president of the United States had too much power, it was the press that should help to counter balance him.” By practice, LKJ could have been Nigeria’s James Reston: informed, influential, consistent, dedicated to the truth, to accountability and to service.
The story of LKJ is not merely a biographical narrative; it is a media odyssey, a social revolution. Long before hashtags became headlines and blogs tried to become newspapers, Jakande helmed a traditional media empire that served as the conscience of a nation, a thorn in the flesh of autocrats and the corrupt.
From the editorial desk to the corridors of political power, his compass never wavered as he stood unflinchingly for the people.
Many may have forgotten that Lateef Jakande ran the Nigerian Tribune newspapers (1956-1979) as Editor-in-Chief, leaving an imprimatur of excellence that, decades later, still has his signature brand equity – the Tribune editorials, as the biggest selling point of the oldest circulating printed newspaper in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Tribune is yet to clone Jakande.
Legend had it that Jakande would, after his morning prayers, be at Tinubu Square on Lagos Island before 7 a.m., read all the dailies and crank up an informed but engaging editorial by 9 a.m. to be typed and dictated to the Nigerian Tribune office in Ibadan for the next day’s publication. He practised a journalism of long hours, deep research, and often, personal risk in the era of analogue telephones, black and white web presses, and archaic media vending business models that were nonetheless successful for that time. What you do today for easy live chats, you then had to record by long hand, transcribe and type out on Olivetti manual typewriters before working on the cold press.
But, so seriously were the Nigerian Tribune editorials that helped create the myths of the Lagos/Ibadan axis press, taken that it was reported that General Olusegun Obasanjo as the military Head of State, did not start his morning engagement without first reading the Nigerian Tribune editorial. Fierce, pungent, yet robust and compelling editorials that were well researched and brilliantly argued.
There was also the popular narration that in the heady days of the wartime Head of State General Yakubu Gowon in the saddle at the Dodan Barracks, LKJ once told the nation’s Number One spook, Kam Salem, that if the government found any of those hard-hitting Nigerian Tribune editorials offensive, they should hold him responsible. Not his editors! That was responsibility at the highest level.
The Nigerian Tribune newspapers he headed did not just publish news; it told untold truths and was the temple where public interest journalism was practised as a kind of civic religion – rigorous, ethical, and fearless.
Jakande more than ran the Nigerian Tribune and Lagos News, later. He mobilised men and resources all his life to build supporting institutions for an independent and thriving press, a press that can hold powers to account, that can face off with dictatorship and terror. He was a major driver of the NGE for editorial leadership, comradeship and ethical practice; NPAN to secure proprietary business interests, IPI for global play, validation and standardisation and the NIJ for weaning the cubs for professional excellence. These and many more are subsisting testimonials to deep thinking and service to journalism practice in Nigeria.
When Jakande eventually forayed into politics, it did not mark a departure from journalism but a continuation of it by other means. He sought office not for the grandeur of power but for the responsibility of service. True to his left-of-centre ideology, his policies were grounded in welfarism—an unyielding belief that government must intervene where the market fails, that prosperity must be shared, and that no citizen should be left behind simply for being born into poverty.
Through economic downturns and political turbulence, he prioritised his party’s (Unity Party of Nigeria) cardinal programme of free education, accessible healthcare, public housing, and rural development. He invested in people, their futures. His achievements were not mere statistics. He gave people back their sense of worth. He used the power of the press and the tools of policy to lift the veil of hopelessness. He demonstrated that politics, when done right, is journalism by action—truth lived, not just told.
To celebrate his legacy, therefore, is not just to remember the man but to reflect on a mission that was seeded in ink, watered in courage, and matured into a lasting tree of social justice.
The theme, “Journalism in the Digital Age: Lessons from Jakande’s Legacy” invites us to journey backwards to move forward—to uncover within the past, the very compass for our present and future. It is a call to examine how the values, sacrifices, and methodologies, more than the technology of yesterday’s rugged master, can help us navigate the increasingly complex terrain of journalism in our digital era.
Journalism Before the Digital Era: Craft and Courage
Understanding the nature of journalism before the digital age can only help us appreciate the transformative nature of digital age journalism, especially as it concerns practice in Nigeria. That was journalism of print dominance where newspapers and magazines were the primary platforms with radio and television playing supporting roles; where Journalists relied on shoe-leather reporting, in-person interviews, and document searches. Most importantly it was journalism of delayed news cycle where: stories followed a daily or weekly cycle, giving room for deeper verification but slower dissemination.
Nigerian journalism began in Abeokuta in 1859 with Reverend Henry Townsend’s “Iwe Irohin,” a newspaper aimed at promoting literacy, Christian evangelism, and civic education. During the colonial era, newspapers became platforms for political advocacy and social mobilisation, with figures like Herbert Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and others using the press to challenge colonial rule. Nigerian journalism has since been political, critical, if not adversarial acting as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
LKJ came into journalism in 1949 at the Daily Service. You could say that he joined the struggle. He moved to Obafemi Awolowo’s Nigerian Tribune in 1953. Three years later, he was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Tribune, a position that he held for decades.
It was Journalism of a cloakroom of passion in which facts were tested, ethics debated, and truth forged; specifically tailored to shape public opinion and galvanise resistance to unjust policies.
After independence, journalism flourished briefly, but military rule brought repression, censorship, and violence against journalists who stood stoutly at the barricades and sometimes underground. The transition to democracy in 1999 created a more enabling environment for press freedom, leading to the proliferation of private media outlets and digital platforms.
Today, Nigerian journalism continues to evolve, with investigative journalism and civil society organisations playing key roles in promoting accountability and defending press freedom. However, challenges persist, including regulatory overreach, legal harassment, and intimidation of journalists. The history of Nigerian journalism has always reflected the complex interplay between resilience and repression, innovation and constraint, in struggle to realise democratic aspirations.
Journalism in the Digital Age: A New Battlefield
Fast forward to our present, the age of information overload and credibility deficit. From the middle of the 1990s, the digital age of journalism was marked by speed, saturation, and spectacle. Fueled by the Web 2.0 technologies which championed user participation and networked, interactive communication that allows anyone to produce and distribute content globally, journalism now occupies a new battlefield—one where facts must duel with algorithms, and truth must wrestle with virality.
Digital journalism has enabled innovation in reporting practices, audience engagement, and business models with social media as a fulcrum of transformation. Digital applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and the likes have enabled a new generation of citizens to venture into citizen journalism; many of whom do not care about the fundamentals of the craft. The Internet has democratised the media space, lowered the barriers to entry for practitioners with attendant challenges and opportunities.
Anyone with Internet access can enjoy the wider reach of journalism and real-time reporting; deploying varied storytelling techniques in multimedia formats. Photographs, videos, infographics and animation have become ready tools to tell stories and foster engagement.
It is an expanded diversity of voices in the public sphere that has challenged traditional gatekeeping roles of our journalists and editors. These come with significant challenges in the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories, which have sometimes undermined public understanding and trust in legitimate news sources. Disinformation and information spread faster than corrections.
The business model that once sustained serious journalism has been challenged and eroded by clickbait economics. Legacy media houses are being outpaced by influencers who trade credibility for attention.
For us in Nigeria with over 122 million internet users (making our country one of Africa’s most digitally connected societies), the concern about inequalities in internet access and digital literacy persist, reinforcing information gaps and leaving marginalised populations vulnerable to manipulation. For all of this, journalists and civil society actors face increased risks of surveillance, hacking, and online harassment, compromising their safety and independence.
From Legacy to Digital: What We Must Carry Forward
So, what are the lessons of the past that we must carry into this digital age?
First, journalism of that era was more of a mission; not just a business. It cannot be different now. The Media business should run as a civic enterprise, not a commercial cartel. In the digital age, we can find ways to monetise truth without commodifying it.
Second, journalists must be educators, not just entertainers. The biggest attraction of the digital age journalism is the entertainment content of multimedia delivery. Loss of concentration is the big risk. Editorial pages must however remain as platforms for public reasoning, not personal branding. This can be done, using new tools to reach new audiences without losing the old values.
Third, the media must serve the people, especially the poor, as it does business. Because information equity is as vital as economic equity, digital journalism must bridge the digital divide, not widen it. That should be the essence of virality.
Fourth, credibility is still king. In a time when everyone with a smartphone can be a reporter cum broadcaster, those of us who claim the title of journalist must earn credibility daily through transparency, humility, and rigour.
Fifth, we must embrace technology without surrendering to it. Just as the Jakandes mastered the tools of the pre-digital era—print, broadcast (as governor, LKJ set up the Lagos Radio and LTV), we must master ours—data journalism, AI ethics, immersive storytelling—while retaining our ethical backbone.
We know that Technology will always change journalism. But it is how we use it—how we define our purpose within it—that matters more. Digital platforms are today’s printing presses. They can be tools of liberation or manipulation. Social media can mobilise communities for justice—or mislead them into chaos. The role of journalists is to anchor the ship, not just ride the waves.
We must remember that journalism is not defined by the medium. It is defined by integrity, purpose, and accountability. History tells us this: Journalism never dies. It transforms. So the challenge is not to resist change, but to guide it—to infuse new tools with old values.
Concluding Reflections: He Lives On
LKJ passed on on July 11, 2021 but his voice echoes still. While he was here, he understood that journalism and politics, when pursued with integrity, are twin engines of societal progress.
He was more than a journalist. More than a politician. He was a builder of futures. A cultivator of hope. A relentless advocate of the people’s right to know and their right to live with dignity.
As we stride deeper into the digital age, let us wield our pens and pixels with the same fierceness as his. The tools of our trade may have changed. The stakes may be higher. But the path is not unmarked. Journalism must retain its core, timeless values of truth, accountability and service.
We don’t need to reinvent journalism. What we need is to reaffirm its mission : humanity. In the words of Walter Lippmann, journalism is “the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one episode and then another out of darkness into vision.”
Let us be that searchlight. Let us light the way—with the wisdom of the past, the tools of the present, and the hope of a better-informed future.
END NOTE:
Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ), as a politician, was richly documented by achievements: Jakande schools, Jakande estates, LTV, Lagos Radio, roads, water, hospitals, etc. But not so his journalism Odyssey. I recall Aremo Olusegun Osoba, himself a journalism titan and protege of LKJ, has repeatedly lamented that LKJ and Journalism was the book not written. He spoke of the entombed media history in the LKJ’s archives in his Ilupeju residence, as an untapped treasure trove waiting to be mined. Perhaps this is a project worth considering by a well-resourced Department of Mass Communication in collaboration with the Roundtable. It would be memory-enriching.
Thank you for your audience.
*About Gbenga Adefaye:
Gbenga Adefaye is a Nigerian journalist, administrator and media scholar, with over 30 years’ experience in the Nigerian media industry. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Vanguard media (Newspapers) and the Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. More so, he was a two-term president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (2008–2013) and a member of the Governing council of the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Mass communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka,1984 and a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, Lagos in1988.
Career
Gbenga began his career as a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority in 1985. He joined the Vanguard Media in 1986 and has risen from being a Reporter/Feature Writer to Editorial Training Manager/Chief Sub-editor and presently the Editor-in-chief and General Manager of the Vanguard Media (Newspaper). In addition, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye was appointed to serve as the Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, with effect from September 1, 2020, by the Governing council of the institute.
Source: historicalrecords
