Every May 2 is significant in the life of Blueprint. It debuted on May 2, 2011 as a weekly tabloid to measure swords with forerunners like the Daily Trust, LEADERSHIP and People’s Daily, all domiciled in Abuja. May 2 is also the birthday of Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the founder of the paper. At 45, he did not consider himself “too young to float” a newspaper outfit, predominated by older publishers like Malam Kabiru Yusuf of the Daily Trust, Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah of the LEADERSHIP and Alhaji Wada Maida of the People’s Daily. Interestingly, Malam Yusuf and Alhaji Maida are from Katsina state, while Mr. Isaiah and Alhaji Idris are from Niger state. The latter has a maternal root in Katsina.
I was an external member of the LEADERSHIP Editorial Board when Alhaji Idris conceived the idea of setting up the Blueprint. Malam Ibrahim Sheme was the editor of the LEADERSHIP when Mr. Isaiah invited me to join the board in December, 2008. I had visited him in his office when I learnt that he was the son of my immediate boss on the sports desk of the New Nigerian Newspapers in Kaduna. I wanted to link up with his old man through him. By the time my visit ended, he pleaded with me to come on board. I had a plan to column for the Daily Trust. It was a day or so after committing myself to the LEADERSHIP that Mr. Theophilus Abah, the former editor of the Sunday title of the Trust was asked to get in touch with me for discussion. But the Isaiah sentiments got the better part of me.
One afternoon in the month of February, 2011, Malam Sheme hinted me about the Blueprint and that he was going to edit the paper. Two months earlier, Mr. Isaiah invited me to Malam Sheme’s office with Mr. Aniebo Nwamu in attendance. The issue of making me the chairman of the paper’s editorial board was tabled. Declining the offer was not easy for me. One of my late uncles was the cause. He once told me that when you genuflect before a father and you find yourself having to genuflect before the son, then it is time for you to quit the scene. I was comfortable sitting on the board as a part-time member than working full time.
Malam Sheme got me interested in the Blueprint even though I wanted my spouse to pioneer for the paper because of her specialty in editing and penchant in catching errors. I turned in my application as editor-at-large with sports as my main focus. Before then, I was introduced to Alhaji Idris. From the picture Malam Sheme painted of him, I was expecting an encounter with a Godzilla. But the publisher turned out to be a medium built, likable young man, light-skinned, suave and articulate.
I was also introduced to Malam Salisu Umar, the pioneer Executive Director (Operations) who was excited to see me. Malam Umar was a course mate of one of my senior features writers in the Nigeria Standard Newspapers of Jos in the 80s. He was a regular visitor to the corporate headquarters of the paper. We both shared a laugh when he told me that he used to admire me from afar whenever he came to visit his friend. That was how my voyage with the Blueprint began.
Eventually, the Blueprint did not only debut on May 2, 2011 as a weekly but also took the media space by storm. The design and editorial contents of the paper were professionally packaged in such a way that you would think the paper had existed for decades. Many newspaper houses in the country panicked because of the way it was breaking stories. Many of them were forced to race back to the drawing board to survive the tsunami that the Blueprint had become!
Owing to pressure from readers across the country, the management was forced to turn daily after just four months of weekly production. That decision in turn put a lot of financial pressure on the publisher who is the sole financier of the paper at a time the economy of the country was mired in the woods. He also turned down the requests from moneybags join the board for fear that the paper might be highjacked by people who might not share the same vision with him.
The paper was at its nadir between 2013 and 2015 but the resilience of the non-fair weather staff who refused to jump ship because they believed in the publisher, whose disposition towards them was unique compared to other high-handed media promoters around, kept the paper afloat. Some of the ship-jumpers soon returned to the fold in October, 2017 when the paper added a weekend title to its stable… a proof that we had bounced back!
The full story of Blueprint at nine cannot be told in this limited space. The modest successes recorded by the paper so far are attributable to Alhaji Idris’ doggedness and never-say-die spirit. I have worked closely with a handful of publishers and chief executive officers in my career as a journalist, becoming one in the 80s. But I find Alhaji Idris pleasant to work with. He is such a complete gentleman who cannot hurt a fly. But when provoked, he can go after the insect with an AK 47 rifle.
Ever heard of the adage describing the proverbial cat as having nine lives? Well, the Blueprint also fits into that description! It is nine odd years on and the paper is riding the turbulent storm. Not even the tempest called Covid-19 could rock the boat in this challenging voyage of informing, educating and entertaining its numerous readers within and outside the country.
Expressing his feelings about the project that he birthed as a relatively young man, the vibrant publisher gave glory to almighty Allah for his life and the tremendous progress made by the organisation in the past nine years. He said he had a huge sense of fulfilment growing the paper to an admirable brand that is widely accepted by readers and advertisers alike, a feat he attributed to the dogged commitment and diligence of the management and staff of the company.
Happy birthday to Blueprint and happy birthday to our publisher at 54. Wishing him and the Blueprint family many happy returns of the day.
