The Daily Trust newspaper, the flagship title of Media Trust Group, and Trust TV have won big at the 2023 Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA) carting away several awards and nominations.
Four of the organisation's journalists won the country's most prestigious media awards.
The journalists were Lami Sadiq who won the Olagunsoye Oyinlola prize for Culture and Tradition Reporter based on her story titled 'Concerns rise over marry your rapist practices in Nigeria'; and the Alex Ibru prize for Investigative Reporter of the Year, for her story titled "Inside Abuja's kidney market where the rich prey on the poor."
The other award winners include Afeez Hanafi who won the IGI prize for Insurance Reporter of the year, based on his story titled 'Poor Insurance Culture Compounds Farmers' Anguish Amid Poverty".
Also, Trust TV's reporter, Aisha Salihu, won the Cadbury Nigeria PLC prize for Television Reporter of the Year based on her story "Caesarean section: Mixed reactions trail rising popularity of delivery procedure".
Congratulating the winners, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Muhammed Idris, commended the efforts of the pioneers of the prestigious awards.
He acknowledged the role of the media during the pre-democracy era, saying they were pivotal to the deliverance of the country from the shackles of the military era.
"I want to commend the efforts of those who institutionalised the Nigeria Media Merit Awards as a foremost benchmark for excellence in the fourth realm estate.
"Nigerian journalists, home and abroad, are known for distinguishing themselves in strata of the profession, winning prizes and global accolades.
"At home, we must be definitely grateful to the courage and determination of Nigerian media in birthing and defending our journey to democracy," he said.
He advised journalists to remain dedicated to quality reporting, assuring that his administration would ensure the freedom of the press to discharge their duties.
"I want to use this opportunity to thank all of you for your untiring effort in the preservation of the unity and progress of this nation," he said.
President Tinubu also urged the media to support his administration's proposed tax reforms, describing them as a critical step toward building enduring national wealth and prosperity for all Nigerians.
Earlier, the Chairman, Nigeria Media Merit Award, Dayo Duyile, said the goal of the award was to stir media excellence among younger journalists.
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"The objective is to improve the standard of journalism by encouraging those who are behind us, to follow in our footsteps.
"This organisation is to help those who are behind us and those who are presently in journalism to improve the standard of journalism.
"Some people say the standard has fallen but I refuse to agree with them. The standard has not fallen. What has fallen is the investment in media," he said.
"If you look around there is no single magazine. Those magazines when you had the NewsWatch, Tell Magazine; all those brilliant newspapers, what has happened is not that the standard has fallen, perhaps the investment has stopped," he said.
