Under the direction of Chike Madueke, the consultant hired by the previous administration, the Edo State Government on Friday retrieved the state-owned Nigerian Observer Printing Press from Fountain Brook Publishing Limited.
On June 30, 2022, then-Governor Godwin Obaseki closed the state-owned newspaper The Observer, transferring its employees to the Ministry of Information and Communication and turning over management to consultants.
Governor Monday Okpebholo immediately reversed these decisions after taking office by ordering the newspaper’s employees to resume their duties. The printing press has now been fully taken over by the government from the consultants and turned over to The Observer’s management group, which is headed by General Manager Sylvester Oboh.
Top government officials, including Paul Ohonbamu, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication; Mr. Fred Itua, the Edo State Governor’s chief press secretary; and directors from the Ministry of Information and Communication, saw the handover.
Ohonbamu called the incident noteworthy, pointing out that there was no violence or conflict during the handover. He praised Fountain Brook Publishing Limited for keeping its word and giving the state government back the printing plant.
“When I came on board, I said that the primary mandate of Observer is to print, which is the dream of the founding fathers. The newspaper gets to the grassroots, keeping the people abreast of happenings. We need to feed the people with good news.”
“We are all excited to be here today to retrieve the printing press and strategize on training of staff on its operations. We assure Edo people of quality news,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Fountain Brook Publishing Limited, Chike Madueke, acknowledged that returning the Observer printing press to the Edo State Government was the right course of action, as it remains government property.
“Our concern about the printing press is handling the press. It is divided into three—one is for printing of flex banners, the second one is for printing calendars and books, and the third is for printing newspapers.”
“The printing is of high quality. I am here to do the formal handover of the documents and keys to the three printing press. It is Edo State Government’s property.”
Sylvester Oboh, the acting general manager of The Nigerian Observer, outlined the difficulties the publication has faced since November 2024, including the lack of a printing facility of its own.
He underlined that Observer is a printing and publishing company founded by an Act of Parliament in addition to being a media outlet.
“Since 1968, Observer has been able to project government policy thrust, service institutions, and the general public.”
“The major tool to do our job had been taken away from us, which is the printing press. We had three in our premises but were not able to access any of them.”
“We discovered that there was an agreement. We appealed to Governor Monday Okpebholo to retrieve our printing press to enable us operate effectively, and he has done that.”
