From Anambra Times to Alpha Times -By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba

Thursday, June 19, 2025 was a momentous day in the media scene and southeast society in particular. At the Hilton Leisure Resort & Hotel, Awka, Anambra Times formally transited to Alpha Times, a colourful event punctuated with a discourse on the development potentials of the southeast as a regional bloc. Prior to it’s online extension in 2018, Anambra Times had operated as a glossy, magazine – style publication. In a field known for both high birth and mortality rates, Anambra Times nine years anniversary invites attention. Interestingly, rather than anniversary celebration, the medium was switched on the knob of recreating and repositioning for greater heights.

The well – attended relaunch was no doubt a testimony to the impact the platform had made in the past few years. Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 poll, Peter Obi who was billed to attend, was eventually represented by Mr Fidelis Okafor, political adviser to Obi during the latter’s governorship in Anambra State. Two time Senator, Victor Umeh, of Labour Party, ably piloted affairs as chairman of the ceremony. But it was not as if the political complexion was hijacked by the Labour Party. Chief John Nwosu, governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress for November 8, 2025 Anambra State election, was in attendance. The ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance easily dominated the political spectrum. Information Commissioner, Law Mefor, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Ernest Ezeajugh and retired Air Vice Marshall Ben Chiobi, stood out. Engr Mike Ogbuekwe, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, could be said to be the face of the PDP. Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, Ikioye Orutugu, said he attended and spoke in his personal capacity.

In a brief documentary screened before unveiling of the new Alpha Times logo, editor in chief and publisher, Paul Nwosu, recounted how his appointment in 2014 as Senior Special Assistant, Image, to Governor Willie Obiano, shaped the journey. As anyone who has managed government public relations will experience, both the traditional mode of news reporting and content selection do not favour the nuances of administration narrative. Drawing from the local content gap filled by the Onitsha based _Mirror_ after the civil war, Nwosu considered a publication that would give a voice to the State and government in a reader – friendly format. In the circumstance, a visuals – rich, spot – on, magazine in which the pictures largely tell the story would be suitable. In terms of governance, the approach had the advantage of domesticating public services to the citizens. As feedback from the population soon revealed, the style enabled readers, at home and in the diaspora, to keep abreast of governance and track infrastructure projects.
The expository tradition had the added benefit of bringing attention to different parts of the State. And often, reportage of locals’ reaction to development activities offered a window to pulse of the people on public issues. The publication was well received and as Nwosu noted, it was much sought after at town hall meetings with Ndi Anambra in different parts of the country. The demand was perhaps, greater from those outside Nigeria. It became somewhat like _West Africa_ ; the London based, regional – focused title which served as handbook for many Nigerians abroad in the pre internet era.

Inevitably, Anambra Times had to go online after about two years of print publishing. The simultaneous operation of print and software was perhaps exciting at the beginning but the cost – benefit analysis soon became clear. While diehard devotees of the printed word remain steadfast even to this day, the economics advantage of online journalism just cannot be ignored. Describing the phenomenal shift to digital communication, Isaac Umunna, publisher of newsexpress.ngr once said: “Power has changed hands in the media industry.” With the termination of Obiano’s progressive government in 2022, Anambra Times jettisoned the hard copy, operating online only. Dr Paul Nwosu’s two year stint as Commissioner of Information in Professor Charles Soludo’s administration obviously took the bite away from the platform in that intervening period. Following disengagement from the State Executive Council in 2024, Anambra Times witnessed a bounce back on the media scene. And now the reach for greater horizons, for added depth in mining of stories and presentation. With the quest for vibrancy in reporting has come a retuning of audience focus. Southeast integration is gradually transiting from dream to an agenda for deliberation. The six geo – political zones may not have acquired constitutional recognition but they are already being treated as unwritten decentralisation units in Nigeria’s government and politics. Their potentials deserve to be explored, and in the case of the southeast with common identity and cultural affinities, to be exploited. And so, taking on the region in a more forceful manner, spells a new phase, a new era, a rebirth of sorts, hence Alpha Times.

Police Commissioner, Ikioye Orutugu emphasised the primacy of security in any enduring development plan for the region, stressing that there could not be societal progress without security. But the canvassed security model was one that probably caught the audience off guard. To the composite crowd of media practitioners, politicians, government officials, members of civil society, parents and undergraduates, Orutugu
delivered the sobering submission that peace and safety of society has a lot to do with the home front. The CP was unequivocal in linking criminality to permissive social order, broken homes and abandonment of parental responsibilities. It was not a new thesis. Psychoanalysis provides insights on the impact of environment and nurture on behaviour. But I guess the attention – rapt audience were expecting to hear about kinetic security measures at work in the State. The apparent change of approach to security consciousness and the passion with which he pushed for a moral revolution made an impression. A PhD holder, Orutugu counselled return to the values of honesty and hard work for the future well-being of society. The circuit of get – rich – quick, gangstyle peer groups, ostentatious living, cultism, internet fraud, kidnapping and other violent acts was easily refreshed. The police chief’s remarks received loud applause.

After an interlude of music and flute playing skills, guest lecturer Professor Godwin Onu delved into his paper on “harnessing the power of inter state collaboration to unlock the southeast’s full economic potentials.” With a mixture of academic confidence and sense of citizenship, Onu advocated strategic alliance in key areas such as education, food processing, manufacturing, agro – allied, industrial, and technological applications for optimal benefits to the cooperating states. Given the essential requirement of energy for industrialisation, Professor Onu advised the creation of a joint independent energy system by the five states of the zone. The presentation also highlighted the necessity of an alliance transport network, especially in the introduction of high speed rail service connecting cities in the region. Interestingly, Onu, a former Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, said he had addressed anticipated challenges to his ambitious plan, promising that he was available for further engagement on the subject.
Other speakers tended to agree with the line of a great, integrated southeast as a viable project. Senator Victor Umeh noted that the journey was about to commence with the recent activation of Southeast Development Commission. He further observed that a purposeful southeast governors’ forum could yield a development model in continuation of M.I. Okpara’s economic blueprint. Umeh pleaded for mature, civility – laced campaigns towards the State’s November 8 governorship election.

Alpha Times comes to the stage at a time of serious challenges both for the media industry and for the southeast. Online journalism opened the floodgates of mass communication in a way unforseen just two decades ago. It would be easier to cope with if the trend could rightly be defined as citizen journalism. But the surge of noise, the blasts of propaganda, the rattling of disjointed storylines, the sheer deception of high falutin headlines, the jarring disconnect between caption and content, the bold worshipping at altar of sensationalism can sometimes be too much to bear. Collapse of editorial gate – keeping is the consequence of mushrooming of titles. Society looks up to publications like Alpha Times grounded in professional discipline for rescue of standards and ethics. Let Alpha Times continue to be a part of the haven of brilliant and pleasurable journalism. On the southeast as catchment area, the peculiar plight of marginalisation cannot be ignored. The age – old wound is still festering. Some actors on national stage are so inured to the conspiracy that they believe denials to the zone are normal and rational. The ruse that the southeast is a minority and junior partner in the federation is a threat that must be confronted with all lawful, legitimate means. Just and fair treatment of the southeast is a right, not a privilege. Consequently, the southeast media should not be apologetic about propagating this cause. The Senate is currently processing thirty-one requests for creation of new states. This uniform, herd mentality of governance is wrong. Everyone knows that for economic reasons and to avoid atomisation of states vis a vis an elephantine federal government, Nigeria does not need more states. The only compelling exception is remedying the injustice to the southeast. Create just one more state; an additional state in the southeast to rectify the present imbalance and seal the file on state creation with wax of fair-minded patriotism.