Trust Is Earned

A few days ago I posted a blog praising NEXT for setting the pace for Nigerian media houses online. In that piece I briefly mentioned the Daily Trust, but did not do them justice as the piece was primarly about NEXT.

The Daily Trust, and its sister papers the Weekly Trust and the Sunday Trust have also established a strong online presence. The Trust group bring a perspective to Nigerian news different from those of the Lagos-based newspaper giants.

It is important to get the full picture. The Nigerian film industry is a case in point. I do not claim to have read every single edition of every single Nigerian newspaper, but over the years I have found articles on the Kano branch of the film industry only in the Trust group and NEXT. Everywhere else (internatonal media inclusive), the film industry is treated as synonmous with Lagos. By the way, I hate the words "Nollywood" and "Kannywood". Someone needs to come up with a better name for our film industry!

Come to think of it, what is up with the mimicry? European Union begat African Union, UEFA Champions League begat CAF Champions League, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) begat Federal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (FIIB), and who do they think they are fooling, hiding FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the middle of NAFDAC (National Food and Drug Administration and Control. What is with these technocrats? They school abroad (or study "abroad" in university at Nigeria), and come to the conclusion that the solution to a problematic institution (e.g. the Organization of African Unity) is to change its name to a name they see in Europe or North America? Haba, don't they get that it wouldn't matter if we called it the Pounded Yam Union, provided it actually and substantively delivered the services it was created to do, abi? At the end of the day, there is nothing to gain from constantly rearranging the facade of things, while studiously ignoring the substance.

You know what provides good substance?

The Trust group of news media sites.