By Crystal Ugoeze
A co-founder of Newswatch magazine, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed, is dead. He was 70.
Family sources confirmed that Mohammed passed away after a period of illness. He had been absent from public engagements in recent months and missed the evening of tributes organised last November in honour of fellow Newswatch co-founder, Prince Dan Agbese.
Mohammed unveiled his memoir, Beyond Expectations, late last year.
Alongside the late Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu and Dan Agbese, Mohammed was part of the pioneering team that founded Newswatch in 1984, establishing what became Nigeria’s first independent weekly news magazine. He served as Executive Editor and later Deputy Chief Executive Officer, playing a significant role in shaping investigative journalism and editorial excellence in Nigeria.
Before co-founding Newswatch, Mohammed was editor of National Concord in the early 1980s. The newspaper was founded by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the presumed winner of Nigeria’s June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Born into journalism in the mid-1970s, Mohammed earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos in 1975, graduating with a second-class upper division. He later obtained a postgraduate diploma in management and public administration from the Glasgow College of Technology, Scotland, in 1979.
His professional career spanned several decades. He worked at the New Nigerian newspaper between 1976 and 1980, serving at various times as associate editor, managing editor and acting editor. He joined National Concord as deputy editor in 1980, became editor in 1982, and resigned in 1984 to help establish Newswatch.
Mohammed maintained a regular column at National Concord and continued the practice at Newswatch for nearly 28 years. He also co-edited Nigeria’s Business and Trade Fair Journal with Ray Ekpu and contributed to several publications, including Newswatch Best, Jogging in the Jungle: The Newswatch Story, and Ojukwu, published by Mayfive Media Ltd.
Beyond journalism, Mohammed was active in politics and public service. He once contested as a governorship candidate in Kogi State and later served as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, between 2005 and 2007.
His death marks the loss of one of the key figures in Nigeria’s modern media history.