The Anglo-African came in second place among Nigeria’s twelve major newspapers, following Iwe Irohin. On June 6, 1863, printer and entrepreneur Robert Campbell established Anglo-African. The newspaper was the first of its kind in Lagos and was published in English.
Robert Campbell was a businessman from Jamaica who had moved his family to Lagos. One of the grandkids of Campbell authenticated his granddad’s starting point when he said, “Robert Campbell was one of the sixteen unfamiliar merchants living in Lagos around then”.
The time when the newspaper first appeared was also the same time that the British took control of Lagos in 1861. The British also used punitive expeditions and inter-tribal wars to end the slave trade and establish public order during this time period.
According to the records, Governor Freeman was furious when he heard that Anglo-African was going to start. He tried to stop the effort by writing to the Colonial Office in London and asking them to approve a tax that would be applied to any new newspaper that started in the colony. However, Freeman’s request was not approved by the Secretary of State.
When it first started publishing, the newspaper eventually did not oppose the colonial administration in Lagos. It was published every two weeks from Campbell’s Printing Press, which is now Holy Cross Cathedral in Lagos. It had editorial columns that provided a critical assessment of the issues of the day and covered news of interest both locally and internationally. It cost three pence per copy and had between four and eight pages.
There was no doubt that the coverage was greater than that of Henry Townsend’s Iwe Irohin. It gathered stories and advertisements from novels, magazines, books, foreign newspapers, and other sources. According to the documentation, the proprietor’s primary goal was to capitalize on the growing interest in Western education and enlightenment in Lagos by providing inexpensive and accessible materials that would assist readers in being educated, informed, and entertained.
Literary journalism is the best way to describe Campbell’s style of journalism. It was intended to capitalize on the growing interest in education, which began in 1859 with the C.M.S. mission’s establishment of the C.M.S. Grammar School.
Anglo-African newspapers were used to promote Lagos’ welfare and interests. The paper week after week course was somewhere in the range of 30 and 50 duplicates. During Townsend’s numerous trips to Abeokuta, it was said that Campbell helped Iwe Irohin.
Even though Anglo-Africans were in charge at the time (early 1860s), the owner did not have enough money to run the paper well. On December 30, 1865, after two years and six months, the paper went out of business.
The proprietor, or Professor Robert Campbell, as he was known, devoted his time to the political emancipation of Lagos after the paper’s owner passed away. Campbell led several protest marches against the merger of Lagos and the Gold Coast for administration.
Robert Campbell became well-known as a Lagosian due to his involvement in politics in the city. One day after he protested the administration of Lagos and Gold Coast by a single colonial governor, Robert Campbell passed away in 1884.
