I rejoice with the Associates and readers of The Guardian on the occasion of its 40th birthday today.
It’s my pleasure to note that the newspaper my late husband left behind 12 years ago remains the flagship of the Nigeria press despite all the rough economic weather.
We give God all the glory for sustaining us till the present. We dedicate this testimony to God and all the Associates and managers who have made this happen.
I greet all our readers and advertisers who have remained loyal and faithful to us. As I noted three years ago, I urge all our Associates who are with us at this time, to note that The Guardian is ‘a pearl we shouldn’t cast before any swine’. We should continue to guard our hard-earned reputation jealously. We need to serve public interest more than ever before. We should serve the public with facts, as facts remain in its classic form, “sacred,” only “comment is free”.
As we have done in the last 40 years, we should monitor governance so diligently and hold government and business leaders to account. We need
to monitor what political and business leaders are hiding as it is written, “the rest is public relations or advertising”.
As the late publisher once noted, “a corrupt nation has no future”. We should therefore not relent in exposing impurities in the system. Corruption is our No. 1 public enemy in Nigeria. We should beam our searchlight on corruption and its perpetrators in our great country.
We are the leader of the Black race. We are the leader of Africa. We are the largest democracy and economy in Africa. We need to put our leaders on their toes at all times so that they can continue to act in the public interest of our country.
Meanwhile, we will announce a programme of activities to mark the anniversary in style during this 40th Anniversary year. Happy 40th Anniversary!
Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru
