The Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, has charged the information officers within the civil service to remain committed in discharge of their duties and move with the current trend in the Information, Communication and Technology ICT sector.
Adisa, who gave this admonition on Tuesday during a one-day training on ‘Reporting Techniques and Graphics Design’, organised by the Nigerian Union of Journalists Information Chapel, NUJIC, also tasked the participants to acquire more skills and knowledge on the use of more technologies that would make them communicate more effectively and accurately to the public.
At the event, which held at the Conference Hall, Ministry of Justice, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, the Governor’s spokesperson admonished the officers to remain committed to the service and government of the day, saying it is the responsibility, which has been put on their laps.
“You have to remain committed to the system and focus on the government of the day because that is your lot. It is the responsibility, which the government has put on your laps, because if another government comes, you don’t have any business with the past administration.
“You have to be more committed and dedicated to your work and you have to show the hardwork as well.”
While emphasising the use of ICT in managing information, Adisa encouraged the information officers to ensure they are always on top and not give room for unprofessional that may sabotage their efforts at dishing out accurate information for public consumption.
He said: “I want to tell us that information management of government is more delicate than it used to be, particularly around this time. Wherever you are serving, you are supposed to be the central person to communicate whatever has happened to the authority, and from there to the world so that it does not come out the wrong way. This means that everybody has to be on his on her toes as soon as your reports are ready to take away for public consumption.
“We have the good and bad side of what the new media has done to journalism, but we cannot continue to look at the bad side because the people who developed mean well for our profession and to the world. We have to x-ray the good side and continue to make use of them. What is good for us as far as the ICT is concerned is that the immediacy is much more realistic than even before.
“Before now, we say the radio has immediate impact more that the television that carries visual and newspapers but, these days, the internet is just on our fingers and because of that, you don’t allow anybody to distort the goodness of the information you are supposed to dish out in favour of government. So, you have to be on your toes, you have to be more vigilant and as ICT-compliant as possible.
“It is true that some people cannot use computers but that should not be the lot of information officers like you because the computer is much as important as the information you want to pass. The computer is just the basic tool you have to use to communicate your information. So, you have to be abreast of ICT and blend its goodness with the information you have to disseminate so that you continue to be on top.
“Some people will say that Africans don’t learn and that was why they said if one wants to hide something from an African person, he should hide it inside a book. But I think things are changing fast now because we have a lot of intellectuals at the communication and ICT end – in the Literature, Arts or Science, who are Africans and are doing well. So, we are as learned as people in the other continent.”
Speaking also at the training, Permanent Secretary, Mr Oyesola Oyedele, said the quest for knowledge cannot be over emphasised, hence, the need for participants to develop positive mindset about the workshop and endevour to seek new knowledge for them to remain relevant in the service and chosen career.
He admonished information officers to be proactive and project the government of the day as expected.
He applauded Governor Seyi Makinde administration for prioritising the welfare of workers in the state, enjoined information officers to be courageous and put challenges confronting them aside for optimal performance.
In his remarks, the Oyo State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Ademola Babalola called on information officers in the state to redouble their efforts in their various beats and continue to uphold ethics of the profession.
He lauded the present leadership of NUJIC for the initiative, urging them not to relent but design mechanisms that will enable other attain campaign promises for the benefit of members.
Earlier, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Information Chapel, Oyo State, Comrade Ismail Fasasi, in his welcome address, said the training became imperative to equip members with necessary skills to meet global practises.
Fasasi maintained that the training was an attestation to the fulfilment of campaign promises of present leadership of the chapel.
“Information Officers are the mouth piece of the government, hence, there is need to train and retrain ourselves towards high productivity in the service. ”
” Today’s training will go a long way to impact in all our colleagues the best practices in our field. we cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results, hence the reason this administration of ours places high premium on training and retaining of members. ”
He enjoined members of the chapel to put in their best towards ensuring the development and growth of the state.
