The chairman of Media Trust Limited, Kabiru Yusuf, bagged the Distinguished National Leadership Award at the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) ceremony held in Lagos.
Yusuf, who is the president, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), was awarded at the 30th anniversary of the NMMA for his dedication to media excellence and service to the nation. While noting that he is always wary of awards, Yusuf said he could not turn down the recognition as the NMMA is a reputable platform.
The General Editor of Daily Trust, Hamza Idris, also won the Dele Giwa Prize for Editor of the Year at the ceremony.
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Idris oversees Daily Trust, Daily Trust on Saturday and Daily Trust on Sunday.
Idris joined the Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust titles, in 2005 and had reported from Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states.
An Assistant Editor at Daily Trust, Hafiz Hanafi, also bagged three awards at the ceremony for some of the stories published by his former employer, The Punch, which won the Newspaper of the Year.
Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor Babajide SanwoOlu at the event tasked media practitioners to uphold the tenets of journalism, especially ahead of the 2023 polls. He said journalists must also hold themselves accountable by purging the profession of fake news and other vices.
“Your standard must never be lowered for anything and definitely not in this age where social media and the internet have enabled the amplification of fake news and malicious reports,” he said.
While paying tribute to journalists for their sacrifice in holding government accountable, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NMMA, Dr Haroun Adamu, said the organisation would continue to recognise outstanding media practitioners.
He said democracy would collapse in any state where free press dies.
