The Daily Trust Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Media Trust Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bayero University, Kano, to provide digital learning opportunities for Nigerians in media and journalism through the DTF Digital Academy.

The MoU was signed last Thursday by Malam Bilya Bala, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Daily Trust Foundation, and Professor Haruna Musa, Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, at the university in Kano.

Explaining why the DTF Digital Academy was established, Malam Bala said, “In the last eight years, with support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Daily Trust Foundation has trained more than 1,000 journalists across Nigeria in various aspects of journalism. Now that the project has come to an end, the Board considered it necessary to convert learning materials into instructional designs digitally for on-the-go learning opportunities for many who did not have the opportunity of participating in the workshops.”

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He said the instructional materials could be accessed at no cost to learners, as part of the Foundation’s contributions to the capacity building of Nigerian journalists.

Under the MoU, Bayero University’s Faculty of Communication shall validate the instructional materials to ensure they meet contemporary standards for media and journalism training in Nigeria. Also, BUK lecturers shall be constituting part of the faculty for the Foundation’s in-person or virtual training programmes.

The Vice-Chancellor of BUK, at the MoU signing ceremony, admitted that BUK and Media Trust Group had come a long way, because Daily Trust annually employed the best graduating students from the Faculty of Communication of the university in the last 20 years. Also, BUK lecturers were regularly visiting the Daily Trust newsrooms to understudy contemporary trends in news gathering, editing and publishing.

Professor Musa said he considered the partnership for the digital training as another milestone in the collaboration between BUK and Media Trust Group in the interest of the community that both institutions serve.

The officials of the university present at the signing of the MoU included Professor Suleiman Yar’Adua, the Director of BUK Broadcasting Services; Malam Haruna Aliyu, the university’s Registrar; Malam Sheriff Ahmad, a Director in the V-C’s Office and Malam Ibrahim Ado Saleh, who is of the Public Affairs section of the university. The Daily Trust Foundation’s Programme Director, Dr Theophilus Abbah, also witnessed the signing of the MoU.