Nosa Igiebor

Nosa Igiebor (born 25 December 1952) is a Nigerian journalist and editor. In 1993, he won the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists for his magazine Tell coverage of Sani Abacha's military rule.

Early career After graduating with distinction from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Igiebor began his career at the Nigerian Television Authority in Edo State, where his last position was as senior news editor. His next employer was the National Concord Group, where he was news editor. He left there to become deputy editor-in-chief for the Nigerian news magazine Newswatch.

In 1991, Igiebor co-founded the independent news magazine Tell and became its editor-in-chief.

Tell published articles critical of the government and military, causing the magazine's relationship with military ruler Ibrahim Babangida to become increasingly strained. In April 1993, when the magazine featured an interview with retired General Olusegun Obasanjo as its cover story, the government confiscated 50,000 copies of Tell and the staff was forced to go into hiding. They continued to publish as a tabloid, however, becoming "the first of Nigeria’s Guerrilla tabloids of contemporary times".

From the beginning of Abacha's rule, Tell took a critical tone in its reporting on his government. Igiebor set a policy that the magazine would never refer to Abacha as "head of state", preferring the terms "junta" or "dictator" to describe his rule. In March 1995, George Mbah, the magazine's assistant editor, was arrested and jailed on a charge of "attempting to stage a military coup", and was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment by a secret military tribunal. Agents also seized 55,000 copies of the Christmas issue of Tell bearing a cover story critical of Abacha. Tell managing editor, Onome Osifo-Whiskey, went into hiding. The latter organisation also designated him a prisoner of conscience.

Awards and recognition In 1993, the Committee to Protect Journalists presented Igiebor their International Press Freedom Award, "an annual recognition of courageous journalism". Bill Orme, an editor of CPJ, commented: "What distinguished Nosa is that he is still producing and his organisation (Tell) is still reporting the news in a very lively and combative way". The award's notice stated; "Tell has continued to publish throughout the period of Nigerian dictatorship despite intimidation, harassment and the detention without charge or trial of Mr Igiebor and other senior members of the Tell staff."

Present development Igiebor is now the president of TELL Communications alongside Dele Omotunde and Osifo Whiskey. After the era of the military rule in Nigeria, Igiebor and other journalists in Nigeria are reluctant in the practice of journalism.