That was the most recent salvo from the camp of the former founding editors of the newsmagazine in their face off with investor, Ibrahim. The founding editors include Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade. After a cozy start between the two groups, trouble started only a few weeks ago when Ibrahim decided to suspend the publishing of the weekly magazine. Newswatch has run almost non-stop for almost half a-century since it began publishing sometime in 1985.Whereas,Ibrahim does not see anything wrong in suspending publishing of the magazine, while he takes his time to restructure his latest trophy in the business world(Newswatch), the Ekpu group see this as a sacrilege.

The Newswatch sale would not be the first in the acrimonious post-sale disagreements between professional journalists founders and businessmen investors in the Nigerian mass media .The privatization of government –owned Daily Times which was bought by Folio Communications in the early 2000s is still bedeviled by court cases, and disagreements .While another was the sale of the newspaper formerly known as The Comet to former Lagos State governor, Ahmed Tinubu by its founders including veteran journalists Lade Bonuola and Femi Kusa. Some where along the line ,after the purchase, the founding journalists became dissatisfied with the deal. According to reliable sources, Bonuola and company were to claim that Tinubu only bought the assets of the defunct newspaper and not its title and goodwill. With the sealed deal about to unravel, Tinubu had a choice of either paying for the The Comet title or dropping it. He decided to drop the The Comet name. He chose a new title –The Nation.

Typically, the relationship between the journalist-founders and their new-found friends, the investors are usually quite good initially, which of course, leads to the sale deal been struck. The businessman-investor too is all love-dovey' with the journalists until the ownership and control of the media house changes hands from the former to the latter. Then, the new investor, who by law now, has control decides how things are run at the media house. Again, typically, the businessman's perspective or worldview is usually different from that of the journalist. It appears that it doesn't even matter that the journalists have been managing the media business for so many years. Their critics would say, 'if they have been managing it well, they wouldn't have to sell their business to the businessman”.

Commenting on the un-savoury turn of events at Newswatch, business consultant Austin Edet thinks that ”the chemistry between the two parties may not have been right. And when you have a range of investors there will be differences in principles and values.” He believes that “journalism is a serious profession with ideals and norms of the profession being upheld by the practitioners.”

Nonetheless he believes the new owner-- investor, Ibrahim has “the right to shut down the business, if he thinks he needs to restructure the business for it to work better..” Richard Akinnola, lawyer, journalist and social activist suggests that” may be ,Ibrahim's way of dealing with people may be wrong,” which is what causes the disagreements with not only Newswatch but other businesses where he has majority investment.

Ibrahim is believed to have bought about 95 per cent equity interest of Newswatch Communications from its founders and shareholders who include business magnate and Globacom chairman, Mike Adenuga and Sir Alex Akinyele, a veteran PR practitioner and former minister of Information, Ekpu, Mohammed, Akinrinade and the estate of the late Dele Giwa.

The case of Daily Times which was once the country's leading national newspaper is somewhat different. As Edet who is Chief operating officer, COO of Nextzon Business Services points out, the crisis began after the new owners—Folio Communications had taken over, after the company—Daily Times of Nigeria Plc was privatized by the Federal Government .Folio and its business partners which include DTV on one hand and journalists-staffers of the newspaper who were bitter over how Folio management led by the Anosike brothers ran the company.

Among the charges leveled against Folio Communications and its Chairman/CEO, Fidelis Anosike by the editorial staff of Daily Times was that they were not interested in running or continuing to publish the veritable newspaper but were intent on ”asset-stripping” of the company. At privatization, DTN had extensive physical assets which in a large residential estate near Satellite Town, Lagos, commercial real estate such as its offices in central Lagos, choice houses located in high brow areas round the country, and a large production complex at Agidingbi, a Lagos suburb. The journalists staff have severally called on the Federal government to revoke the privatization deal for which Folio paid about N2billion to government. One former journalist staff of the newspaper half-jokingly said he was currently studying law (at the University of Lagos) so that he can sue the Anosike brothers and Folio over the sale of Daily Times.”

Where the journalists beingealistic? Does Folio have to publish the Daily Times and put in more money to revamp the newspaper? Does not Folio have a right to sell any asset, in particular real estate of the company which it bought? Those are some of the questions that have arisen among Nigerians who are concerned about the lingering Daily Times saga.