A Director of Media Trust Limited and former Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust newspapers, Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, has said Nigeria’s numerous challenges rest on quality journalism.
Speaking in Ibadan, Oyo State, during the 3-day multimedia training for journalists in South West, Dan-Ali, who represented the Chairman of Daily Trust Foundation, Alhaji Bilya Bala, said if journalism is good, at lot of things about Nigeria will be good.
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The training, which was organised by Daily Trust Foundation with support from the MacArthur Foundation, attracted participants from print, broadcast and online media platforms.
Dan-Ali noted that without quality journalism to hold leadership to account and expose the ills of the society, Nigerians will be left lamenting perpetually.
The veteran journalist and administrator explained that Daily Trust titles sets for “best possible journalism in Nigeria.”
He said, “The Daily Trust foundation came about because of the desire of Daily Trust Limited not just in reporting but also in training.
“Our main focus is journalism and best possible journalism in this country. This because if journalism is good, at lot of things about this country will be good.
“But if our journalism is not good, honestly, we will just be lamenting…
“So, there is a lot of responsibilities resting on our shoulders as journalists. I always say if you slit a journalist, you don’t see blue or yellow blood, it is the same red – colour of blood.
“It is simply the responsibility given to us about the constitution and the Society. We are supposed to serve as the watchdog, to be the eyes and ears of the rest of the citizens who don’t have the kind of privilege that we have. We are there robbing shoulders with high and mighty, and with the lowly as well.
“Our task is to be responsible to all of these and also responsible to the cause, while we are who we are. We are supposed to hold those who in power to account.”
He charged the participants to make best of the training, upscale their can-do attitude as “there is no one that’s is disabled in whatever way.”
Dan-Ali applauded the MacArthur foundation for the continuous support to the Daily Trust towards training and re-training journalists across the country.
The Programme Director of Daily Trust foundation, Dr Theophilus Abbah, is part of regional training organised for journalists across the country on multimedia reporting and digital journalism.
Abbah said, “We have been to North West, North Central, South South and South East, and so, we are here in South West.
“This training is our own contribution to building the capacity of journalists to do modern journalism.”
