{"id":2508,"date":"2026-01-17T22:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2026-01-17T22:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:06:41","slug":"tinubu-mark-sanwo-olu-ododo-idris-mourn-mohammed-newswatch-co-founder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508","title":{"rendered":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran journalist and co-founder of Newswatch Magazine, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed, who died on Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other Nigerians who also mourned the deceased included former Senate President, David Mark; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Kogi State counterpart, Usman Ododo; the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris; and the Nigerian Guild of Editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yemi Alade - Tomorrow (Official Music Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G4u2yMsPdG8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mohammed, alongside late Dele Giwa, Dan Agbese, and Ray Ekpu, founded Newswatch Magazine in 1984, inspiring the era of fearless investigative journalism in Nigeria during the military era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mohammed served as pro-chancellor and chancellor of the Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University. He was also Associate Editor of New Nigerian Newspapers (1976-1980), Deputy Editor and Editor of National Concord (1980-1984) before the founding of Newswatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president, in a statement by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, commiserated with the government and people of Kogi State, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Commonwealth Journalists\u2019 Association, and other media institutions, public and private, where the late Mohammed had provided leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tinubu affirmed that Mohammed\u2019s career in journalism, spanning over 50 years, was devoted to nation-building, with the journalist placing his life on the line to tell the truth to power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He noted the dedication of Mohammed, whom he called a personal friend, and his colleagues in sustaining the visionary legacy of Newswatch Magazine after the assassination of Dele Giwa in 1986, further confirming their resolve and courage in pushing the boundaries of investigative journalism in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tinubu believed that Mohammed\u2019s publication of his memoirs, \u201cBeyond Expectations,\u201d in November 2025, provided an opportunity for soul-searching and deep reflection on leadership in Nigeria and the role of journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He prayed that the Almighty God would receive the soul of the departed, and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisdaylive.com\/2026\/01\/15\/tinubu-mark-sanwo-olu-ododo-idris-mourn-mohammed-newswatch-co-founder\/\">(ThisDay)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran journalist and co-founder of Newswatch Magazine, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed, who died on Monday night. Other Nigerians who also mourned the deceased included former Senate President, David Mark; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his Kogi State counterpart, Usman Ododo; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[391,262,622,2860,2859,1652,1021,2858],"class_list":["post-2508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-babajide-sanwo-olu","tag-bola-tinubu","tag-david-mark","tag-dele-giwa","tag-newswatch-magazine","tag-nigerian-guild-of-editors","tag-usman-ododo","tag-yakubu-mohammed"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508\"},\"wordCount\":331,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Babajide Sanwo-Olu\",\"Bola Tinubu\",\"David Mark\",\"Dele Giwa\",\"Newswatch Magazine\",\"Nigerian Guild of Editors\",\"Usman Ododo\",\"Yakubu Mohammed\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508\",\"name\":\"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg\",\"width\":638,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=2508#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":117,\"caption\":\"Tona Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\",\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tona.Today\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today","description":"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today","og_description":"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour","og_url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508","og_site_name":"Tona Today","article_published_time":"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":638,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tona.Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tona.Today","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508"},"author":{"name":"Tona.Today","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477"},"headline":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder","datePublished":"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508"},"wordCount":331,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg","keywords":["Babajide Sanwo-Olu","Bola Tinubu","David Mark","Dele Giwa","Newswatch Magazine","Nigerian Guild of Editors","Usman Ododo","Yakubu Mohammed"],"articleSection":["Nigeria"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508","name":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder - Tona Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-17T22:01:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-17T22:06:41+00:00","description":"President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, joined prominent Nigerians to extend heartfelt condolences to the family of veteran jour","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Yakubu-Mohammed.jpg","width":638,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=2508#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tona.today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tinubu, Mark, Sanwo-Olu, Ododo, Idris mourn Mohammed, Newswatch co-founder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","name":"Tona Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization","name":"Tona Today","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","width":500,"height":117,"caption":"Tona Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477","name":"Tona.Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tona.Today"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tona.today"],"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?author=2"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2510,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions\/2510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}