Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Daily Trust Newspapers, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, has said that the future of the Nigerian media lies in digital and electronics.

Yusuf, who addressed newsmen on Wednesday in preparation for the 20 years anniversary of the media outfit, said that technology would drive the media going forward.

He advised media managers to be prepared for the future, adding that the trick is not to wait for the future but to plan ahead.

He expressed doubts in the prediction that the traditional media would go extinct as a result of the impact of online media, saying that he was waiting to see the prophesy come to pass.

Mallam Yusuf stated that the same prophesy was on air when television came but so far television has failed to drive the newspaper into oblivion.

He said: “We are waiting to see the prophesy that traditional media would go extinct. We have heard it for many years. But we must plan ahead. The future is digital, we must continue to experiment with everything.”

Going down memory lane he said that the newspaper has gone through ups and downs, adding that there have been some highs and a few low points that threatened the resolve of the promoters.

“We are celebrating survival for 20 years,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t give us a chance. Several times I thought of giving up.

“One was in Kaduna; our then financial manager said to us that the way things were going we may not be able to survive for two more months. He was looking at the cash flow. We refused to accept his verdict.

“The second was when we were starting the daily. We had announced that we would go daily on January 15. I travelled to Lagos as part of preparation for that. When I called the editor he told me ‘I am sorry we can’t do it’. He told me all the challenges we were facing. I told

Him, ‘Jibrin, we must come out on January 15’.”

The Chairman said he was however happy that the newspaper has come to stay as a going business concern.

He hinted on the possibility of the newspaper going to the Stock Exchange in the near future adding that there are a lot of expansion programmes the newspaper would want to try its hands on for which it may not easily raise funds in Nigeria.

He stated that he was also happy that the company has fulfilled its vision of offering a product that would be acceptable.

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