The Nigerian Tribune is an English-language newspaper published in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was established in 1949 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, making it the oldest running private Nigerian newspaper. During the colonial era, the newspaper is served as the mouthpiece for Awolowo's populist welfare programs. It played an important role in defending the interests of the Yoruba people in a period when different ethnic groups struggled for ascendancy. After Nigeria gained independence in the 1960s, most publications were government-owned until the 1990s, but private papers such as the Nigerian Tribune, The Punch, Vanguard, and the Guardian continued to expose public and private scandals despite government attempts at suppression. General Ibrahim Babangida stated that out of all the Nigerian newspapers, he would only read and take seriously the Nigerian Tribune's editorial column. The book Leadership Failure and Nigeria's Fading Hopes by Femi Okurounmu consists of excerpts from a weekly column in the Nigerian Tribune published between 2004 and 2009. The author, a patriotic Nigerian elder statesman, laments how "the corruption and selfishness of successive leaders have destroyed the hopes not just of Nigerians but of the entire black race". The managing director and editor-in-chief of the Nigerian Tribune, Segun Olatunji, resigned in December 2008 in the wake of a series of staff changes. A few days later the editor, Rauf Abiodun, also resigned. Sam Adesua was appointed as the new managing director and editor-in-chief of the newspaper by Mrs. HID Awolowo, the chair of African Newspapers of Nigeria Ltd., which owns the Nigerian Tribune. The changes were said to be part of a move to modernize the paper and expand beyond its narrow Yoruba base in the face of competition from papers such as The Westerner, The Nation and the Nigerian Compass. In September 2012, the newspaper's board of directors appointed Edward Dickson as managing director and editor-in-chief, Debo Abdulai as editor of the Nigerian Tribune, Sina Oladeinde as editor of the Sunday Tribune, and Lasisi Olagunju as Saturday Tribune editor. African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC is the publisher of the Nigerian Tribune, with Tribune Online as its online edition.