Newswatch Co-Founder Dies At 75

Yakubu Mohammed, co-founder of Newswatch magazine and former deputy chief executive officer of the publication, has died at the age of 75.

He was said to have battled an undisclosed illness before his death. As of the time of filing this report, the family had yet to issue an official statement.

Mohammed’s death comes barely two months 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, in which he chronicled the evolution of Newswatch and shared personal reflections on the magazine’s formative years. The book revisited defining moments in the publication’s history, including the aftermath of the 1986 assassination of founding editor-in-chief Dele Giwa and the ensuing struggle for control of the influential magazine.

Alongside Agbese, Ray Ekpu and Dele Giwa, Mohammed co-founded Newswatch in 1984, helping to establish it as a powerful force in investigative journalism during Nigeria’s military era. His passing marks another major loss to the magazine’s founding generation.

Born on April 4, 1950, Mohammed hailed from Ologba in the 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 joined National Concord, rising from deputy editor to editor before co-founding Newswatch.

At Newswatch, Mohammed held several leadership 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.