Contemporary challenges of Information and Communication Management – Regulatory Issues and Requirements
Being the text of the keynote address by the Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the Meeting of Information Managers of APC Government…in Lagos on Thursday, June 24 th 2021
PROTOCOL
Please permit me to most sincerely commend the organizers of this meeting. Despite the delay occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and sundry issues, the meeting has finally become a reality. I thank His Excellency, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for graciously hosting this meeting. I commend the tenacity and commitment of the organizers, while hailing the patience of all those involved.
2. I have been asked to speak on the ‘Contemporary Challenges of Information and Communication Management – Regulatory issues and Requirements.’ However, I am seeking the indulgence of the organizers to tweak the topic to read ‘Mitigating the Contemporary Challenges of Information and Communication Management.’ This is because we are not just here to dwell on the challenges we may face as information managers, but also to chart a path forward.
3. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, perhaps the most daunting task anyone can take on, in this age and time, is that of information and communication management. It is even more daunting when you are engaged in information and communication management for a reformist government like ours.
As you all know, ‘change’ is the mantra of our party, the APC, and change, as we all know, does not come easy. While the task of government information and communication management is daunting in normal times, today, with the advent of new information and digital technology, the word ‘daunting’ becomes an understatement. Add to that the dwindling resources available to government, which has drastically affected the funding of the information sector, and you will understand the enormity of the challenges, contemporary challenges, that we face.
4. I will return to the issue of challenges and the way forward later. But now, let me give a quick insight into what we have been doing, as Ministry of Information and Culture and the official spokesperson for the APC-controlled Federal
Government. Without doubt, what we consider the most important aspect of our responsibility is to project the massive achievements of the Administration, especially in the three priority areas of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and revamping the economy. We do this by employing a mix of the traditional and modern methods, as you will see below:
– Town Hall Meeting
– Testimony Series
– Documentaries
– Bi-weekly Press Briefing
– Press Releases
– Media Tour of Projects
– Leveraging Social Media
– The FGN/IAPP
– Stakeholders’ Engagement
– Tour of Media Houses
– Regular Radio/TV Appearance
– Media Interviews
– Advocacy Campaign
– Ministerial Press Briefing
– Leveraging on the reach of government information agencies
5. Let me speak briefly on these programmes. Town Hall Meeting: We launched the Town Hall Meeting series on April 25 th 2016 to keep the people informed of government activities, get their buy-in and also get their feedback. It has been so successful that it is now spewing copycat editions. Till date, we have organized 19 Town Hall Meetings across the six geo-political zones and covering a myriad of issues, such as the war against corruption, insecurity, infrastructure, economy, food production, herdsmen-farmers clashes, national unity, protection of public
infrastructure, etc.
6. Testimony Series: This is a unique programme that we launched in the run-up to the 2019 general elections to allow Nigerians to hear directly from citizens who have been positively impacted by the programmes and policies of this Administration. It was so successful that the opposition issued a statement asking for a probe of the (imaginary) billions that we supposedly spent on the series. To show that it wasn’t a fluke, we brought to Abuja, live, all those who participated in the programme, for live testimonies. We also produce documentaries, on a regular basis, on the various programmes of the federal government, the most recent one being the documentary to commemorate the second term, mid-term, or six years if you like – of the Buhari Administration. The three-part documentary is currently running on television stations across the nation. The social media edition will be launched in the coming week.
7. Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: We organize this to respond to developing stories, put issues in perspective as well as provide background information for the media, while press releases complement the briefings.
8. Media Tour of Projects: This programme allows us to showcase government projects, especially in the area of infrastructure and agricultural development (Anchor Borrowers Programme, Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, etc). To date, our media tours have taken us to all the six geo-political zones and have enabled us to show Nigerians what the Administration has done in building/repair of roads, rails, bridges, water projects, airports, seaports, modular refineries, e.t.c. The latest tour took us to Jigawa on Monday to inspect the Malam Alu Agro Allied Company Ltd
in Birnin Kudu that boasts of a poultry, a fertilizer-blending company and a tomato Greenhouse farm – a testimony to the success of the Administration’s agricultural revolution.
9. Social Media: There is no doubt that this is the medium to reach a vast majority of our youth, and we have used our social media platforms, whether it’s Twitter (before it was suspended), Facebook (FMICNigeria) or Instagram (fmic_nigeria), to disseminate information to the public. Our official website, fmic.gov.ng, is also very active, and indeed was the winner of the 2018 Bureau of Public Service Reforms Ranking on Best MDAs Website. I will talk more on the social media later.
10. On Dec. 15 th 2016, we launched the FGN/iApp to provide authentic and real-time information to Nigerians anywhere in the world via their mobile gadgets, while we regularly engage information stakeholders, including the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON), Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Online Publishers, On Air Personalities and bloggers, to update them on government programmes and policies, seek their cooperation and also get feedbacks from them.
11. We embark on regular visits to media houses, including indigenous language newspapers, make regular appearances on radio and television stations and also organize such appearances for other Ministers, and have media interviews, both with individual media organizations and also in groups. We also arrange for Ministers to regularly brief the press on the achievements of their ministries.
12. Also, we embark on national advocacy campaigns to enlighten Nigerians on, and get their buy-in for topical issues of concerns. Under this programme, we have had the national campaign against insecurity, highlighted by the punchline ‘if you see something, say something,’ national campaign against corruption, national campaign to rally support for the military and other security forces, national campaign against fake news and disinformation, etc.
13. Finally, the federal government information agencies. I must single out for commendation these agencies of government. All the activities that I have listed above would not have been successful without the immeasurable role of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON), and, of course, the National Orientation Agency (NOA). We have leveraged on them heavily to achieve our objectives. Operating in very difficult circumstances due to lack of resources, these agencies have exhibited commitment and creativity to continue to publicize the activities of government. A case in point is the Covid-19 pandemic. Till date, and despite our best efforts, the NTA, FRCN, NAN and VON have not received any money for the massive awareness campaign against the disease, yet they have not relented in being at the vanguard of the sensitization efforts. I must also not fail to commend the private print and broadcast media that
contributed tremendously to our Covid-19 enlightenment programme .
14. Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in spite of the various programmes I have reeled out to project the achievements of the APC-led Federal Government, it is not uncommon to hear, in certain circles, that not enough is being done to publicize the Administration’s achievements. Herein comes the issue of sustainability. To keep these programmes running, you need a massive infusion of resources. Unfortunately, the funding of the Federal Government’s information sector is far below par, due partly to the paucity of funds available to the Federal
Government but also in part because of the little premium that we, as a nation, still place on information and communication management. We have had to juggle increasingly-scarce resources, raise funds using our personal contacts and devise ingenious ways of implementing our programmes. To put things in perspective, the budget of the information ministry in some states is higher than that of the Federal Government. And that’s a fact!
15. Away from funds, we also face the challenges posed by the new information and digital technology. This was the subject of the 46 th Meeting of the National Council on Information held in Asaba, Delta State, in October 2016. In my speech on that occasion, I said government information managers face what I call the paradox of technology. On one hand, the information and digital technology provides us with great opportunities. On the other hand, it is fraught with great challenges. We are therefore being tasked, on a daily basis, with how to balance this paradox and make the best of it.
16. The social media is a double-edged sword, providing opportunities and challenges perhaps in equal measure. For the information and communication manager, the so-called new media provides the ultimate test. As you all know, we
recently had to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria because of the threat posed by the gross abuse of the platform to the nation’s peace and unity. Twitter is the platform of choice for separatist campaigners, especially those of them residing outside the country, who use it to issue directives to their followers in Nigeria to attack our security forces as well as to burn police stations and INEC offices. It was a tough decision to take, considering that many of our youths also use the platform for business. Such is the challenge posed by the social media. At its request, the government has agreed to engage with Twitter and, hopefully, we can both chart a path forward, without compromising our national interest. While many have accused us of stifling the press with the ban, we say Twitter is just one of many social media platforms being used by Nigerians. WhatsApp, which is most used by Nigerians, is there. And there is Facebook, Instagram, Google hangout, etc.
17. Leveraging the new information and digital technology will undoubtedly facilitate our work as government information and communication managers. The multiplicity, immediacy and pervasiveness of the platforms of information dissemination mean that we can reach more people much faster. Ordinarily, that should be a good thing. But when you remember that those who are trying hard to distort the information you are putting out also have access to the same technology, you will realize the meaning of the paradox of technology that I spoke about earlier. In other words, the democratization of the technology of information dissemination is posing new challenges to us.
18. Anyone can wake up this morning and decide to become an online newspaper publisher, online television station owner, online radio station operator, a purveyor of news, photographs and videos using the numerous Social media platforms which I listed earlier. They spread whatever information that catches their fancy without engaging in the rigours of accuracy, fact-checking and fairness imposed by the traditional media. But there is another problem: They have their own public, and this public believes whatever information they put out! To worsen matters, the traditional media is now increasingly regurgitating whatever is put out by these emergency purveyors of information.
19. Then, and this is avoidable, there is the painful lack of synergy among managers of information and communication in all strata of our government. The clear demarcation of responsibilities is breached at will, as we seem to be competing against ourselves. Information Managers rarely compare notes, thus duplicating efforts while the myriad of information being generated from the various programmes I have listed above do not percolate enough to the grassroots, because the managers at lower levels do not utilize them well, or perhaps are not even aware of them!
20. Let me speak briefly on the role of the party spokesman before suggesting the way forward and wrapping up this presentation. Based on my rich experience as our party spokesman, especially in the run-up to the hard-fought 2015 elections, in which our party made history by defeating an incumbent federal government, the party spokesman has a lot to contribute, not just in telegraphing the achievements of the party/government but also in countering the disinformation by the opposition. There are things that are sweeter in the mouth of the party than in the mouth of the government, hence an effective party spokesman is indispensable to the successful management of information and communication of any government.
21. In conclusion, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is said that alone, we can do so little, but together we can do so much. This is the way to go. We, the information and communication managers of our party and government at all levels, must create enough synergy to enable us work together so we can achieve more. The organizers of this meeting have provided us with a launching pad. We must now take off. A starting point is to create a WhatsApp group for all information managers to regularly interact. Every media intervention must be uploaded on the platform, for the use of all. Also, meetings like this must be institutionalized. It will not be a bad idea if we hold this meeting quarterly.
Finally, we must ensure better funding of the information sector at all levels.
22. Once again, I thank the organizers of this meeting for their foresight, and I thank you all for your kind attention.
