SHAKE UP IN THISDAY NEWSPAPER: BOARD REDEPLOYS IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, AS BOLAJI ADEBIYI ASSUMES EDITORSHIP

APAPA, Lagos, Nigeria – The 11 year reign of the iron lady of THISDAY Newspaper, Ms Ijeoma Nwogwugwu is now over. She has now been redeployed from ThisDay Newspaper to Arise Cable News where she will now serve as pioneer Managing Director. This was part of the decision taken by the board of directors of the THISDAY-ARISE Media Group.

Bolaji Adebiyi will now replace her as Editor, Thisday Newspapers.

“Following the approval of the board, Ms. Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, after an 11-year stint as Editor of the three titles under the THISDAY stable, has been appointed the pioneer Managing Director of ARISE News Channel Africa. She will be replaced by Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi who has been promoted to takeover as the new Editor of the Newspaper. Until his new appointment, Adebiyi was the Editor of THISDAY the Sunday Newspaper.

“In his place, Mr. Shaka Momodu, the Editor of the Saturday Newspaper, has been moved to takeover as the Editor of THISDAY the Sunday Newspaper. Mr. Yemi Adebowale, Deputy Editor on the Saturday Desk, has been promoted to takeover from Momodu as the new Editor of the Saturday Newspaper”, Thisday said online.

In her new position as Managing Director of ARISE News, Nwogwugwu will be responsible for driving new content, programmes, news gathering, documentaries and distribution/advertising sales for the television station. She will also oversee the opening of new bureaus in other African countries starting with South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. She comes with a wealth of experience cutting across the private and public sectors, having worked in Merchant Bank of Africa, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and THISDAY Newspapers where she rose from Correspondent on the Business Desk to the position of Editor/Group Executive Director of the newspaper.

She currently holds the track record of editing all three titles of the newspapers under the THISDAY stable for the longest period of 11 unbroken years and is the second woman in the history of Nigerian journalism to be appointed Editor of a national newspaper, the first being Mrs. Doyin Abiola. She is also the only editorial staff of THISDAY to date, to have served out her full two three-year terms as Editor of the Newspaper, which ends on June 10, 2018.

In addition to sitting on the THISDAY-ARISE Media Group board and on the Editorial Board of the newspaper, Ms. Nwogwugwu sits on the board of First Pension Custodian of Nigeria Limited (FPCNL), a subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria Limited. She has also sat on the boards of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, Daily Times of Nigeria and the National Hospital, Abuja.

Ms. Nwogwugwu, in her position as Group Business Editor, in 2000 started writing the award-winning Back Page column, ‘Behind the Figures,’ with a primary focus on business, finance and the economy. “She intends to resuscitate the column, which she rested for more than a year to focus on her job as editor”, the newspaper said.

Mr. Adebiyi, like his predecessor, will be assuming the post of Editor of the Newspaper with considerable experience cutting across the public and private sectors. He started his career in journalism as a Senior Reporter with Newbreed Magazine, from where he proceeded to Citizen Magazine, and later Punch Newspaper. He joined THISDAY in 2005 and rose to the post of Deputy Editor of the paper and member of the Editorial Board.

In 2007, he left for the presidency where he was a two-term presidential aide to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and former President Goodluck Jonathan. He returned in 2015 as Deputy Editor of the newspaper and member of the Editorial Board until his promotion in March this year to Editor, THISDAY the Sunday Newspaper. In his new position as editor, Mr. Adebiyi will be overseeing the Editorial Department of THISDAY and will be responsible for the daily production of the newspaper.

Other appointments/promotions approved by the board include: Mr. Joseph Ushigale who was moved from the post of Deputy Editor of THISDAY to Managing Editor; Mr. Davidson Iriekpen, Group News Editor, has been promoted to Deputy Editor of THISDAY Newspapers; Mr. Tobi Soniyi, Group Politics Editor, promoted to Deputy Editor of the Sunday Newspaper; and Mrs. Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, Group Business Editor, promoted to Deputy Editor of the Saturday Newspaper.

Others are Mr. Obinna Chima, Senior Correspondent, Money Markets, who now takes over as the new Group Business Editor; Ms. Chiemelie Ezeobi, Crime and Defence Correspondent, promoted to Group Features Editor; Mr. Nseobong Okon-Ekong, Glitterati Editor, takes over as Group Politics Editor; Charles Ajunwa, acting Features Editor, promoted to Associate Editor, Saturday Desk; and Ms. Funke Olaode, Glitterati Correspondent, promoted to Assistant Editor, Glitterati.