Prince Suleman Momoh, more popularly known as Prince Tony Momoh, was the 165th child of Momoh the First. He was a prominent figure in Nigerian journalism and has been described as one of the icons and legends of 20th century Nigerian journalism, a foremost national bibliotherapist, a cultural engineer and a journalist-philosopher.

He had his early education at Government School, Auchi; Anglican School, Okpe and later Provincial Teacher Training College in Abudu and Government Teacher Training College, Abraka. He was a headmaster in Ivbiaro before he began his career in Daily Times as sub-editor in 1962. He then took a leave of absence to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to study mass communication. His study was interrupted by the Nigerian civil war, and he transferred to the University of Lagos where he completed his degree. After his studies, he returned to the Daily Times. Prince Tony Momoh later earned another degree in law through evening classes at the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1975.

Prince Tony Momoh held several positions in the Daily Times Group, for example, assistant editor, editor of Spear magazine (one of Daily Times Group publications), training manager where he was a journalist trainer; acting editor and later editor of Daily Times. Daily Times was then one of the few widely distributed and read national newspapers. As editor, Prince Tony Momoh had a flak with the National Assembly that led to him being summoned to appear therein to explain the source of his information. A seemingly harmless cartoon in “Grapevine” column of Sunday Times, insinuated that senators were deploying their exalted positions for business solicitations. Instead of going to the National Assembly, Prince Tony Momoh took the National Assembly to court, and it was initially ruled that a journalist cannot be compelled to disclose the source of his information, but a higher court ruling said only in exceptional circumstances can a journalist be asked to reveal the source of his information. This was to significantly redefine the practice of journalism and impact on press freedom in Nigeria. Prince Tony Momoh was later promoted to General Manager of Times Publications Division to oversee all the publications under the Daily Times.

In the journalism community, he served as the Secretary and later President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Chairman of the Accreditation Board of the Nigerian Union of Journalists; Fellow of Commonwealth Journalists Association and Chairman of the Nigeria Media Merit Award, to mention only a few.

Prince Tony Momoh was appointed Minister of Information and Culture in the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) and served from 1986 to 1990. Prince Tony Momoh wrote the famous “Letters to my Countrymen”, through which he communicated government policies to the citizenry. He also set the path through the National Information Policy that liberalized the media space towards granting private television licenses allowing private operators to own and run television stations which is the reality today. Prince Tony Momoh was instrumental in the creation of the National Council of Arts and Culture, and National Museum, two agencies in the Ministry of Information and Culture, that have impacted positively in positively showcasing the culture space in Nigeria. Prince Tony Momoh was to later serve as the Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Airways, then national carrier of Nigeria, from 1990 to 1993. 

On the expiration of his tenure in public service, Prince Tony Momoh returned to private law practice and media consulting. He served as an executive director of Newswatch magazine and Daily Independent newspaper. He was to later identify as a “professional in politics” when he worked with Chief Alex Ekwueme in 1999, and  later President Muhammadu Buhari from 2003, serving as the Chairman of Media and Publicity of the All Nigeria Peoples Party Presidential Campaign Organization in the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections. He served as the National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change.  Prince Tony Momoh was one of those who midwifed the merging of the opposition political parties to wrest power from the People’s Democratic Party in 2014. His effort was to pay off when President Muhammadu Buhari won the Presidential elections in 2015.

From 1999 until 2007, Prince Tony Momoh contributed a column “Point of Order” in Vanguard newspaper where he wrote on governance issues and meticulously contributed solutions to the myriad of challenges bedeviling Nigeria. Prince Tony Momoh was a strong advocate of administrative restructuring and decentralization of governance, police and all sundry functions that make the central government bloated. He was also of the view that legislative business should be part-time and sitting allowances should be paid instead of salaries. He was a commentator on national issues and wrote many books where he promoted his interventions in governance.

Prince Tony Momoh dedicated the latter part of his life contributing to the development of the next generation of leaders when he served as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council of the University of Jos.

Throughout his earthly sojourn, Prince Tony Momoh opened his doors to all, and at some point cared for more than 30 persons who lived in his house in Mende-Maryland, Lagos. He accommodated and fed many of them, trained even many others and mentored some in the journalism and legal profession.

Prince Tony Momoh passed on at 82 on the 1st of February 2021.