VON seeks collaboration with Media Trust

The Voice of Nigeria (VON), says it is seeking partnership with Media Trust Ltd, publishers of Daily Trust Newspaper, on capacity building and authentic news dissemination.

The Director-General of VON, Mr Jibrin Baba Ndace who made this known when he led his management team on a courtesy visit to the Media Trust Ltd on Friday in Abuja.

According to Ndace, Media Trust is one of the brands that have broken the jinx in terms of life span.

He said his visit to the organisation is one of the strategies he has adopted since assuming office, adding that his style is that of team spirit and working together.

“I am here to thank you for the support you have been given me over the years. Part of the support was what facilitated my appointment by President Bola Tinubu as Director-General of VON.

“VON broadcast in eight different languages; four local (Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and Fulfulde) and four foreign languages (English, French, Arabic and Swahili).

“I intend to push further based on global trend and reality on ground.

“We have open discussion with Chinese government to also start broadcasting in Madara language and by God’s grace; we will expand to broadcast in languages from Indonesia, Spanish and Portuguese.

“It is regrettable that when a Nigerian plays a negative role, it generates negative perception to all Nigerians, putting the rest of the citizen in a distrust position with no confidence on our passports.

“So, as the DG of VON, I intend to help in changing the narrative. I have decided to be forceful, deliberate and unapologetic about telling the Nigerian and Africa Stories.

“We are not going to lie or shy away from telling the positive Nigerian stories. But as a government organisation, we cannot do it alone.

“We are willing to partner with Media Trust in terms of training, sharing content and ideas about our country and how to make things better.

The VON boss expressed pleasure to see veterans who have worked with international media organisations working with Trust Media.

Ndace explained that VON and Media Trust as credible platforms have the responsibility to practice ethical journalism, focus on values, come together to fight fake news that could destroy the country

“We must be ahead of them. We must create trust in the minds of the audience; we should not give them the gap to destroy the country.

“VON is determine to partner with you to share content and checkmate fake news,’’ Ndace reiterated.

In his response, the Acting Group Chief Executive Officer/ Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust Newspaper, Malam Ahmed Shekarau appreciated Ndace for his kind words.

He explained that the Media Trust Ltd started operations 25 years ago, has achieved so many milestones and had established presence in the northern part of the country.

“Trust does not only have a TV platform but also a radio platform that’s up coming. So, clearly, the radio arm will really appreciate the partnership.

“As a digital multimedia company, there is lots phenomenon that we can do together; we will explore all those areas that we think we can work together.

“On the area of training, we have the Daily Trust Foundation. But it also requires training, experience and knowledge sharing by experienced journalists including non-journalists who are professionals in other field.

“However, we will identify heads of strategic units that can work with your team. We will look at the areas of collaboration and quickly draft an MOU to work together,’’ Shekarau said.