The Presbyterian Church’s missionaries began arriving in Nigeria in the 1840s. In Calabar, they established themselves in the English Town area. Reverend Henry Townsend, one of these missionaries, later relocated to Abeokuta in the 1850s.
In 1854, Reverend Townsend built a printing press in Abeokuta. Five years later, he used it to publish Iwe Irohin Fun Awon Ara Egba Ati Yoruba, the first newspaper in Nigeria.
On November 23, 1859, the newspaper released its initial issue. The English edition of the newspaper cost a penny and was distributed biweekly (every 15 days) for 120 cowries (Ogofa owo eyo). The newspaper’s name was eventually changed to Iwe Irohin.
The newspaper’s chief printer was James Ede, an Egba man who was trained by Henry Townsend. The few people who were literate at the time and lived in Egba and other parts of Yoruba land gave Iwe Irohin a lot of respect. The paper was distributed approximately 3,000 times. The majority of its pages lacked images and were divided into two columns.
Reverend Henry Townsend.
The primary objective of the newspaper founded by Reverend Henry Townsend was to teach the new converts to read and write. “My objective is to get people to read and to beget the habit of seeking information by reading,” he stated.
Contents of the Iwe Irohin newspaper The Iwe Irohin newspaper reported on church activities, religious dignitaries’ arrival and departure, ordinations, and other events. Later, it added stories about Abeokuta’s affairs and statistics about cotton and cocoa to its content. The newspaper carried advertisements from local businesses and government agencies beginning in 1860.
In 1863, the C.M.S. authorities issued a warning to the newspaper for some of its content that upset the colonial government. However, Townsend continued to run the newspaper. Although Iwe Irohin remained objective, it offered opposing viewpoints on a variety of policies, such as the decision to close the Ogun River to trade in order to protect warriors from the lure of capitalism.
The end of Iwe Irohin, Nigeria’s first newspaper, in January 1866. There were two versions of the newspaper: one in English and one in Yoruba. Egba people destroyed Rev. Henry Townsend’s printing press in Abeokuta in 1867 as a result of cultural and political differences between the Egbas and the British, which forced all Europeans from Egbaland.
The first newspaper in Nigeria, Iwe Irohin, was shut down as a result of this. However, prior to its eventual demise in 1867, the newspaper had already accomplished its goal of instilling a reading habit in the populace, causing them to yearn for news.
Following Iwe Irohin were Anglo African, edited by Robert Campbell, Lagos Times, Gold Coast Colony Advertiser, and numerous others.
After 140 years of death, Iwe Irohin was resuscitated on December 21, 2012, in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. At the Press Centre, the relaunch took place, and dignitaries were there to celebrate the revival.