Kudos to the new team at The Punch
As the clock ticks towards its 50th anniversary, The Punch newspaper strengthened its governance structures recently with the appointment of its first female chairman and another female director. Their elevation is significant both for the organisation, the media and the management of family businesses in the country. It also marks a strong statement for continuity, family values and gender parity in corporate leadership.
Congratulations to Angela Olufunmilayo Emuwa, chairman, and Valerie Omowunmi Tunde-Obe, director. The siblings are children of the founder of Punch Nigeria Limited, the late Chief Olu Aboderin. Genealogy counted, but the new chairman and director bring strengths in qualifications and experience to earn their deserved positions. They continue a strong family tradition of focused control and ownership of one of Nigeria’s iconic organs of public information.
“Special needs advocate, autism Mom, dance fitness enthusiast, music lover, media executive”, by her Twitter handle, Mrs Angela Emuwa brings to the chairman’s position vast experience in the business side of media as well as corporate governance. She is a tried and tested media buyer and knowledgeable operations executive. Her 24 years on the Board of Punch Nigeria Limited means she is familiar with all the issues, moments and decisions that have defined the newspaper and the media in the last two decades.
Mrs Emuwa holds an MBA from the ESUT Business School, a postgraduate diploma in business administration and the CAM Foundation diploma in communications, advertising and marketing. Her media experience includes serving in Newswatch at the height of its fame and influence, Africa Today andNews Africa. She takes on many good causes, including autism and care of the indigent and persons with special needs.
Wunmi Tunde-Obe also brings relevant knowledge and experience. A communication professional, Mrs Tunde-Obe is renowned for her more recent engagement as a performing artist. She studied at the University of Lagos. Wunmi Tunde-Obeworked in advertising and has parlayed her interests in food and fashion into entrepreneurial ventures. She has also garnered experience on the board of Punch Commercial Printing Limited, a subsidiary of Punch Nigeria Limited.
It is easy to see in their appointment vistas of the enthralling newspaper management example of Katharine Graham, daughter of the founder of The Washington Post, who successfully provided the steely nerves that enabled the paper to achieve acclaim and renown in the matter of the Watergate scandal. Sustained coverage of a small case of breaking into the offices of the Democratic Party in Washington snowballed into a major political crisis that forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
The appointment of the Aboderin sisters into essential positions on the board of The Punch counts for more than symbolism. The significance goes deeper into the matter of family businesses in Nigeria, media ownership and control as well as corporate governance.
Punch Nigeria Limited affirmed with the appointments its status and tradition as a family business, one in which multiple generations of family determine decision making. Family businesses are the oldest and most common model of an economic organisation known to man. Years of corporate failures following the demise of the founders had given a bad rap to family ownership.
The Aboderin family have successfully kept the controlling reins of the business founded by their father. Two uncles have steered the ship as chairmen, followed by the recently deceased Wale Aboderin and now the females in the family have taken charge. It is commendable steadfastness and unity of purpose particularly given the allures and temptations of a business in the public eye.
There is a tendency even beyond our shores to minimise the influence of family businesses. Research, however, shows that such enterprises remain a pristine source of wealth creation, employment, and innovation. Family owned businesses account for over 30 percent of companies with sales over US$1billion. Famous examples include Walmart Corporation of the United States, Samsung Group in South Korea, and Tata Industries in India. Back home and in the media is the example of the Nigerian Tribune which has run steadily since 1949 with the Awolowo family in ownership and control.
The Punch holds particular significance in the evolution of Nigerian media. The newspaper entered the market in the decade of the 1970s when the military government held sway, and state-owned newspapers were the norm. Familiar titles, all owned by various state governments, included The Observer, The Herald, Nigerian Tide, Nigerian Chronicle, Daily Star, Nigerian Statesman, and Nigerian Standard. They are all now in the morgue.
The entry of The Punch in the midst of these well-funded establishments was a test of the resolve of entrepreneurs to take the press in Nigeria back to its foundations as private enterprises. The newspaper has over the years proved its mettle. It revived the paradigm of private ownership in the latter years of the Nigeria media. Its success provided the basis for the entry in the 1980s and onwards of major privately owned newspapers set up as professional media with no strings to political or other interests but a sincere interest in providing platforms for civic engagement and enlightenment.
The Punch earned a firm footing with solid reportage, a populist bent and focused exposition of the social issues of the day. It had good features and appealing columnists. Professional management and committed ownership, efficient business and portfolio governance and a sense of purpose have kept The Punch stable and riding high in the standings for circulation, influence and readership. We wish the new Chairman and her team more successes in the marketplace as they serve the best interests of Nigerian journalism, readership and the nation.