Newswatch Co-Founder Yakubu Mohammed Dies At 75
Yakubu Mohammed, a co-founder of Newswatch magazine and former deputy chief executive officer of the publication, has died at the age of 75.
Sources said he had been ill for some time before his death, although the nature of the illness was not disclosed. As of the time of filing this report, the family had yet to issue an official statement.
His death comes just weeks after the passing of his close associate and fellow Newswatch co-founder, Dan Agbese, who died on November 17, 2025, after a prolonged illness.
In October 2025, Mohammed published his memoir, Beyond Expectations, offering a detailed account of the rise of Newswatch and personal reflections on its early days. The book revisited key moments in the magazine’s history, including the period following the 1986 assassination of founding editor-in-chief Dele Giwa and the internal battles that followed.
Mohammed co-founded Newswatch in 1984 alongside Agbese, Ray Ekpu and Dele Giwa, playing a key role in building the magazine into a leading voice in investigative journalism during Nigeria’s military rule. His passing represents another major loss from the magazine’s founding generation.
Born on April 4, 1950, Mohammed hailed from Ologba in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State. He attended St Joseph’s Primary School, Ayangba; Government Secondary School, Okene; the University of Lagos; and the Glasgow College of Technology in Scotland.
He began his journalism career at New Nigerian Newspapers, where he served as associate editor and later managing editor. He later moved to National Concord, rising from deputy editor to editor before co-founding Newswatch.
At Newswatch, Mohammed held several senior positions, including executive editor, managing editor and deputy chief executive officer of Newswatch Communications Limited.
Beyond journalism, he served as a director at Yadara Nigeria Limited and Lastop Limited, and was a member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association and the Nigerian Guild of Editors. He also served as pro-chancellor and chancellor of the governing council of Ahmadu Bello University.
