Founders of Newswatch magazine, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Soji Akinrinade and Yakubu Mohammed have vowed to challenge their alleged sacking by the Chairman and Chief Executive of the board, Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim.
Ibrahim recently bought the controlling shares of the magazine.
Ekpu said this on Tuesday in Lagos while speaking on behalf of the team during the public presentation of Moving Circles, a collection of articles co-authored by them.
Ekpu said when they admitted Ibrahim into the Newswatch Communications fold on May 5, 2011, they thought judging by the earlier discussions, that the original vision of the magazine would be enriched by value-adding investment.
He said, “We thought Ibrahim came to help journalism, not to harm it. We thought he came to support journalism, not to scuttle it. We thought he came to buy and build and not buy and bury our dear magazine.
“When you kill a publication, you kill the hopes and aspirations of millions of readers, advertisers, distributors, vendors, researchers and the general public.”
Ekpu lamented the fate of the publication they nurtured for 27 years, saying the businessman carefully camouflaged his intentions when he first approached them.
“Ibrahim has been mouthing incomprehensible sentiments about our Dele Giwa, trying to fraudulently ingratiate himself against the iconic journalist. The Dele Giwa we knew would never have contemplated the non-publication of Newswach even for one week. Never!”
He further said the publication’s Billings Way, Oregun, Ikeja office is now a deserted village as its assets were currently being stripped.
According to him, the staff are in a quandary while there is an exhibition of what he called “a vicious strategy of ethnic cleansing”.
He said they were poised to fight the injustice that was meted out to the now rested outfit and everyone who had been affected by the decision.
“Newspapers is much more than a business. It is the nation’s battle-axe. We will oppose this madness. We will challenge these illegalities,” he stressed.
I am disaponted in Ray ekpu,dan agbese,soji akinrinmade nd yakubu mohammed for stil goin round d media nd d social ntworks to make noise over news watch magzine and Jimoh Ibrahim,claiming they ve nurtured news watch communication for 27 years,so if d company has bn doing well unda there watch for dat 27 years they said,would their ve bn need for Jimoh Ibrahim to ve come to rescue d company at d point collapse?
Ekpu said Dele Giwa would never ve comtemplated on non-publication of news watch even for one week.Giwa would ve done that if d company after 27years under ur watch is owing salaries nd areas of staffs up to about 5or 6months and the company is at the point of collapse,as it were when Jimoh aquired it,I can asure u he would do worst.for instance if u have a commercial car nd u give to a mad driver like ray ekpu nd others to news watch nd the driver is not making returns and the car is depreciating to the xtent that the car can not travel again,all u need do is to sack d mad driver and overhaul the engine of the car for better services nd do som other maintainance nd give to a good driver,just the way Jimoh is rebuilding nd re-organising news watch magzine now.so if Dele Giwa is alife today and haven work with this retrogressive minded and unprogressive pple like ekpu and co and the company is at distress,the way it was at the point when Jimoh came in,he Giwa would do same surgery and cleansing Jimoh is doing now.
Ekpu also refered to the action of Jimoh Ibrahim as madness and illegal,Well,I will say ekpu is a big fool for saying such bcos ekpu doesnt no what it takes to be rich,if he does i xpect him to save the company at the point of collapse before Ibrahim came in.