In spite of nine years of continued democratic rule, Nigeria’s Press is not yet free, but has been described as partly free, according to the Freedom of the Press 2009 world rankings recently released by Freedom house, a US based media non profit

Nigeria and Indonesia occupy the 54th position out of the 195 countries that were ranked.
http://assemblyonline.info/2009/05/nigerias-press-is-not-free-world-press-freedom-ranking-reveals/

There is no such thing as a truly free press. Everywhere, the press serves the interests of whoever controls it, even in the U.S. Some are pro-republican, some are pro-democrat.
The press has an inordinate ability to influence public opinion, and, as a result, the political outlook of its audience. Because of this, nobody will ever allow the press to be truly free.
And even that is a reflection of society. Nobody is ever truly free. One persons right ends where another person's rights begins. Your right to information is limited to my right to privacy, etc.
Thus a truly free press is unachievable.

There is no such thing as a truly free press. Everywhere, the press serves the interests of whoever controls it, even in the U.S. Some are pro-republican, some are pro-democrat.
The press has an inordinate ability to influence public opinion, and, as a result, the political outlook of its audience. Because of this, nobody will ever allow the press to be truly free.
And even that is a reflection of society. Nobody is ever truly free. One persons right ends where another person's rights begins. Your right to information is limited to my right to privacy, etc.
Thus a truly free press is unachievable.

I agree with most of your points. The hue of the press reflects the complexion of the owners, those in charge. You rightly mentioned that in the U.S some news media take on the colour of their owners: Republicans,Democrats,Liberals etc. Let's be more specific now: During the last epic U.S. elections we saw how the Fox News channel advertised the McCain candidacy, preaching GOP principles , and shooting down any Democrat idea. On the other side was CNN, which though appeared an unbiased umpire was yet jaundiced in favour of Obama.The same could be said of the print media, including the cyber media where whole websites were dedicated to the success of one candidate(Our Nigerian Press was also caught up in the whole proceedings, with some rooting feverishly and unabashedly for Obama). All these had a tremendous impact on the elections.

Now to the crux of your point: can a free press be achievable? In other words, is a free press unachievable? It's a tricky question. But it all boils down to the question,can man or woman be perfect? If no, what do you expect of their institutions?

Everything, it seems to me,  now simmers down to choice: do you watch a government-owned channel which is clearly sympathetic to the government? Or do you lean towards a private stattion that does the bidden of the entrepreneur? Whichever way one views it there must be a balancing act. So  I may dislike tuning into NTA because of its unctuos reportage in favour of government, and instaed watch AIT which is somehow fair and balanced(though not totally free).
Mind you again, you may detest one part of a channel's programmes(for NTAphobics, the Network News at 9), and yet approve of  other parts, like NTA Newsline in the days of Olize Frank, brewer of the Sunday,Sunday Tonic.

Is the Nigerian Press free? Drawing from the above general principles, I think it depends on how you look at it.
Personally, however, I will give a thumbs up for our press especially the Print Media(and these days, the Cyber Media). The humiliation through which they've been put, the batterings they've endured deserve thanks from all appreciative souls.