Daily Trust Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust titles, with headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. It is a non-profit organization involved in diverse social and support activities. They include capacity building for journalists, scholarships to enhance the girl-child education, support for orphanages, provision of materials to cushion the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East, provision of water to poverty-stricken rural communities, medical outreaches, and gifts in kind to vulnerable and disaster-affected communities.
After over a decade of operation under the legal department as Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme (CSRS) arm of Daily Trust newspaper, in 2016, the company established the Daily Trust Foundation to concentrate on these CSR activities and to expand its ramifications to conferences, seminars, workshops, and diverse kinds of training activities in collaboration with local and international partners.
Aim and Objectives
- To establish a scholarship scheme for brilliant and indigent students in higher institutions in Nigeria.
- To provide boreholes and other social amenities for needy communities.
- To provide donations and welfare items to orphanages, prisons, IDPs, and other organizations with similar objectives.
- To initiate and sustain economic empowerment and skills acquisition activities for the society.
- To promote peaceful co-existence in society.
- To organize workshops, conferences, and seminars.
To affiliate with local and international organizations with similar objectives.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Alhaji Bilya Bala: (Chairman)
Alhaji Bilya Bala was appointed as Chairman of the Board in 2020, but he took the driver’s seat with a lot of experience as founder and director of several organizations. A shareholder in Media Trust Group, Alhaji Bala pioneered Renascent Consult, an outfit that has executed projects for the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, the diplomatic community, in Nigeria as well as state and federal governments in Nigeria.
Alhaji Isiaq Ajibola (Vice-Chairman)
Alhaji Isiaq Ajibola attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained the Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics in 1988. He later obtained the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the same university. Ajibola, thereafter, engaged in private business for a short period of one year until March 1996 when he co-founded the Media Trust Limited (Publishers of DailyTrust Newspaper), as pioneer General Manager. In 2001, he became the Executive Director (Operations) of the company, and later became the Managing Director/ Chief Operating Officer of the company in the year 2007.
In his working career, he has gained cross border insights into best practices in Journalism, Print Production, Advertising, and Outdoor Media which include Nigeria media representative to the G8 Summit in Canada (2001) – among 12 other African Journalists. He was on attachment to The Nation in Kenya, and on visits to The Gothenburg Post Sweden and New York Times at various times. He has attended many programmes in Communication Arts, Management, and Leadership at various times at Lagos Business School (LBS); University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town; University of Navarra Barcelona, and Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. Ajibola is a member of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the Institute of Directors(IOD) worldwide, Nigerian Institute of Management(NIM), Nigeria Institute of Public Relations(NIPR) and Daily Trust Board of Economists. He is currently the President/CEO of CBD MediaEdge Communications Ltd, an Abuja-based media communications company with a special focus on Media Consultancy, Branding, Outdoor media (Billboard& Signage), Marketing Research, and Data Analysis.
Umar Abbdullahi (Member)
Malam Umar Abdullahi is a graduate of Ahmadu BelloUniversity, Zaria, and member of the Association of NationalAccountants of Nigeria (ANAN). A director of Media Trust Group,Malam Abdullahi has sat on the boards of local and internationalcompanies, among them VDT Communications Limited, BitfluxCommunications Ltd, Adroit Property Developers Ltd, EvolusiTekno SDN (Malaysia), e-Barcs International (Monaco, France),Empire Securities Limited, etc. He was also a pioneer councilmember of the Nigeria-Nordic Chamber of Commerce and thefounding President of Nigeria-Ivorien Chamber of Commerce.
Malam Abdullahi is widely travelled and has been involved in several non-profit organizations and initiatives.
Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, Chief Executive Officer, Daily Trust (Member)
Mannir Dan-Ali was the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Media Trust Limited, Abuja, the parent body of the Daily Trust Foundation. A media veteran, Dan-Ali obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1986 from Bayero University, Kano. He returned to the same university for graduate studies and completed a Master of Arts degree in English Literature in 1990.
He had his first experience in the media with the defunct Citizen magazine in Lagos, first as special project staff, and later as a reporter between 1992 and 1993. He also worked on a freelance basis with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1994. Between August 1997 and February 2000, Mannir worked for the BBC World Service at its Bush House headquarters in London before relocating to Nigeria where he set up the Abuja Bureau of the African Service. He joined Media Trust Limited on 15th October 2007 as Editor-in-Chief and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Editor-in-Chief on 1st January 2016.
Engineer Nuru Yakubu, PhD (Member)
Dr. Nuru Yakubu, an Engineer, graduated from the Camborne School of Mines, Great Britain, in 1979. He joined the academic staff of the Federal University of Technology, Bauchi in 1982, and became the substantive director of the College of Engineering, Kaduna College (1990-1992). In 1996, Dr. Yakubu was appointed as Rector and Chief Executive Officer of Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna. Also, the Federal Government later appointed him as the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Kaduna in 2000. He has served on various federal government committees on the development of technology education in Nigeria. A chartered engineer, Dr. Yakubu served as a commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from 2010 – 2015. He is a recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award in the category of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
Dr Mairo Mandara (Member)
Dr. Mario Mandara, a medical doctor, is the Special Adviser on Sustainable Development Goals, Partnership, and Humanitarian Affairs to Borno State governor. She has worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as Country Representative to Nigeria. A consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Mandara has extensive knowledge of public health systems and managing maternal and child health programmes in Nigeria. After medical training at the University of Jos, Dr. Mandara practiced at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria. Between 2005 and 2010, Dr. Mandara was a Senior Country Adviser in Nigeria to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She then worked as the Nigeria-based Health Systems Adviser for the Earth Institute at New York’s Columbia University.
SECRETARIAT
Theophilus Abbah (Programme Director)
Theophilus Abbah, a 1994 graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, joined Daily Trust Foundation as Programme Director in 2018. He is an award-winning investigative journalist with about two decades of media experience spanning multiple newsrooms, among them The Punch, Leadership, The Companion, and Daily Trust. Theophilus was the Editor of Daily Trust on Sunday and later Managing Editor of the newspaper. An author of a novel, Lost in the Wind, and contributor of academic articles in Language and Linguistics journals, Theophilus holds a Ph.D. in English (Forensic) Linguistics from the University of Abuja.
IFAH ELE SUNDAY (Research & CommunicationsOfficer)
Ifah Ele Sundayis a graduate of Mass Communication from Redeemers University, Edeh, Osun State. He joined the Daily Trust Foundation in 2020 as a research and communications officer. A skilled digital journalist, Ele manages the Foundation’s website as well as its social media accounts. He also does monitoring and evaluation for the Foundation.
USMAN IYABO FATIMA (Account Officer)
Usman Iyabo Fatima is a graduate of Accountancy from the University of Maiduguri, Borno State. She has worked as an accountant and a classroom teacher. She joined the Foundation in 2022 as an Accounts Officer, monitoring budget implementation and managing the finances.