The Nigerian Observer

{{Short description|Nigerian daily English newspaper}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}

{{Infobox newspaper

| name = The Nigerian Observer

| logo = Nigerian Observer logo.jpg

| motto = ...that the people may know

| type = Daily newspaper

| format =

| owner =

| publisher = Bendel Newspapers Company Limited

| editor =

| foundation = {{start date and age|1968|5|29|df=y}}

| language = English

| headquarters = Benin City, Nigeria

| circulation =

| circulation_date =

| circulation_ref =

| ISSN = 0331-2674

| website = {{URL|nigerianobservernews.com}}

}}

The Nigerian Observer is a daily newspaper published in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. It has been published since 29 May 1968.{{cite news|title=Contact Us|url=http://nigerianobservernews.com/contactus.php |newspaper=The Nigerian Observer|access-date=19 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922155017/http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/contactus.php |archive-date=22 September 2008|url-status=dead}}

The publisher, Bendel Newspapers Company Limited, is owned by the Edo State Government.{{cite web |title=Nigerian Newspapers on the Internet |url=http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/nigeria/nigerianews.html |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=2011-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104202824/http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/nigeria/nigerianews.html |archive-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead}}

In 1973, a correspondent for The Nigerian Observer wrote an article about an impending teacher's strike in Rivers State, which was published on Governor Alfred Diete-Spiff's birthday. Taking this as a deliberate insult, Diete-Spiff's aide Ralph Iwowari had the reporter's head publicly shaved and had him beaten with 24 lashes of a cane.{{cite book |last=Uko |first=Ndaeyo |year=2004 |title=Romancing the Gun: The Press as Promoter of Military Rule |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Abm-v6wGWOQC&pg=PA80 |location=Trenton, New Jersey |publisher=Africa World Press |page=80 |isbn=1-59221-189-5}}

At that time, The Nigerian Observer was owned by Bendel State, the predecessor of Edo State.

The Rivers State newspaper The Tide did not mention the conflict with the teachers.{{cite book |last=Uche |first=Luke Uka |year=1989 |title=Mass Media, People and Politics in Nigeria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bX7aJ8faPvoC&pg=PA144 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |page=144 |isbn=81-7022-232-X}}

During the administration of President Shehu Shagari (1979–83), the newspaper was subject to harassment by the police, with staff being detained and the premises shut, as were other papers belonging to state governments controlled by opposition parties.{{cite book |last=Osaghae |first=Eghosa E. |year=1998 |title=Crippled Giant: Nigeria Since Independence |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253211972 |url-access=registration |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780253211972/page/133 133] |isbn=0-253-21197-2}}

Early in 1989, worsening economic conditions forced the paper to close for some time.{{cite book |last=Faringer |first=Gunilla L. |year=1991 |title=Press Freedom in Africa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZAAm-o47rQC&pg=PA32 |location=New York |publisher=Praeger |page=32 |isbn=0-275-93771-2}}

On 22 July 1993, the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida banned The Nigerian Observer, as well as the National Concord, The Punch and the Daily Sketch.{{cite book |last1=Jeter|first1=James Phillip |last2=Rampal|first2=Kuldip R. |last3=Cambridge|first3=Vibert C. |last4=Pratt|first4=Cornelius B. |year=1996 |title=International Afro Mass Media: A Reference Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLenDhrLQ8oC&pg=PA30 |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=30 |isbn=0-313-28400-8}}

An analysis of The Nigerian Observer and other Nigerian papers published in 1999 noted that it had a relatively small circulation, with only 15% of column inches taken up by advertisements, compared to 50% in a typical North American paper. Many of the ads were government bulletins; low revenue coupled with shortage of newsprint had the effect of limiting coverage of events, and in particular of limiting investigative reporting.{{cite book |editor-last=Marcus|editor-first=Judith T. |year=1999 |title=Surviving the Twentieth Century: Social Philosophy from the Frankfurt School to the Columbia Faculty Seminars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vB2Qf34T7JoC&pg=PA189 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=189 |isbn=1-56000-352-9}}