PROLIFIC PROFILE OF LEADERSHIP ............ONE OF AFRICA'S MOST INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPER

Leadership was born on 1st October, 2004. On this particular day, the newspaper entered the Nigerian market as a weekly. The acceptance of LEADERSHIP by readers was almost instantaneous because of some factors: The Publisher, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, was already a best-selling author, having published and launched a compilation of his articles in LAST WORD, a column he wrote for the Daily Trust newspaper. The column, which sold Daily Trust newspaper, was reintroduced in LEADERSHIP. Naturally, curious readers, who wanted to follow the columnist and assess his newspaper, became buyers of LEADERSHIP. By the end of 2006, the newspaper had already become popular as a barometer for gauging public policy issues. The newspaper, which was initially stitched like a book, became a must-read for the intelligentsia in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, and indeed the entire nation.

On February 1, 2006, Leadership became a daily newspaper. As a daily, the newspaper has been publishing LEADERSHIP; LEADERSHIP FRIDAY; LEADERSHIP WEEKEND; LEADERSHIP SUNDAY; LEADERSHIP HAUSA – which came on stream much later; Cognoscenti – a 16-page magazine pull-out in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, as well as CEOConfidential – a 12-page magazine pull-out in LEADERSHIP SUNDAY. Also in the company’s stable is GOVERNMENT, a weekly newspaper on governance and Leadership patterned after Barrons.

 LEADERSHIP Newspapers Group Ltd has been awarded “Newspaper of the Year” twice in the last five years by the Abuja Newspapers Vendors Association and as the “Most Improved Newspaper.”

The newspaper’s mission statement captures its philosophy and essence:
“LEADERSHIP is not a regional or sectional paper. It is a national paper symbolically embedded in the nation’s capital. We shall stand up for good governance. We shall defend the interests of the Nigerian state even against its leaders and we shall raise our pen at all times in defence of what is right. These are the values by which we intend to be assessed. We shall never, ever, for any reason forget the noble reason of our coming into being: For God and Country!”

The target audience of LEADERSHIP includes all those interested in the political, cultural, business, religious, and other aspects of the nation’s life. It is a newspaper for Nigerians and all those interested in the affairs of Nigeria – especially those who would like the pursuit of truth.


On the new media front, LEADERSHIP has a very active news portal – www.leadership.ng. Today, the news portal is ranked No 1 among Northern-based newspaper websites, and ranking No. 5 among top ten Nigerian newspaper websites (Source: Alexa).

According to Alexa.com, 4.1,076 other sites are linked and derive content from LEADERSHIP. The news portal appeals to users with postgraduate education, working class who earn $30,000 (N4.8m) and $100,000 (N16m) per annum.

LEADERSHIP GROUP comprises a number of subsidiaries, including Allan Woods (www.allanwoods.com.ng); LEADERSHIP Newspapers, LEADERSHIP Holdings, Oak House Forte, Free Press, LEADERSHIP Editors Limited and LEADERSHIP Conferences.

Under the auspices of LEADERSHIP Conferences, the group has organized some of the most successful and profitable conferences in the last five years on subjects ranging from local government funding and banking reforms to value creation in the civil service.