Veteran journalist Yakubu Mohammed has revealed that tensions with the late Chief MKO Abiola, publisher of the now-defunct National Concord, played a pivotal role in the founding of Nigeria’s first weekly news magazine, Newswatch.

In his memoir, Beyond Expectations, Mohammed recounted that friction between Abiola and a group of editors, including himself, the late Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, and Dan Agbese, prompted them to chart their own independent path in Nigerian journalism.

“At National Concord, Giwa’s iconoclastic approach to journalism created unease, and I cannot pinpoint the exact source of friction, but there was a cold relationship,” Mohammed wrote.

He described how the editorial team had been highly visible within the newspaper, attending social events together and contributing positively to the paper’s public image.

Mohammed recalled that the New Nigerian newspaper’s Candido column once described the trio as “Benzy journalists wearing Gucci shoes,” reflecting their high-profile presence.

He also cited a fashion competition, organised by a staffer, late May Ellen Ezekiel, as a flashpoint.

“One instalment grouped MKO and Dele together, and Dele was rated higher than MKO. This bad judgment did not amuse MKO, who literally stormed my office to say that Dele’s cup was full,” he said.

The tension escalated further after the trio secured an exclusive interview with then-Military Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, in January 1984. Rather than being commended, Mohammed said the editors received cold shoulders from Abiola.

“Unknown to us, the new military regime had fenced him off… When we returned from the interview and told the publisher of the warm reception General Buhari gave us, he was rather glum,” Mohammed recalled.

According to Mohammed, an anonymous letter describing the editors as “stranger elements” and persuasion by vested interests led Abiola to formally query them. “This unending friction motivated us to seek investors for a weekly news magazine modelled after Time and Newsweek,” he said.

He listed some of the early investors in Newswatch, including businessman Alhaji Ibrahim Bilyaminu Yusuf, the late Chief Alex Akinyele, Nuhu Aruwa, Ime Umanah, Abdulaziz Ude, and Mike Adenuga.