Government at all levels has the obligation to evolve at all times transparent and effective ways of helping people understand, appreciate and support its plans, programmes and activities. A dynamic information management system therefore becomes critical to the success or otherwise of any government be it among the developed or the developing nations and to bridge the gap between it and the people, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan has emphasized.
Speaking at the opening of the 44th Edition of the National Council on Information (NCI) in Osogbo, Osun State, Dr. Yemi-Esan was concerned that despite the various potentials offered by the social media, a chunk of those potentials were yet to be harnessed.
"Unfortunately we are yet to fully avail ourselves of the great possibilities offered by the new multi-media platforms
Cross Section of Delegates at the 44th NCI, 2013 at Osun State
that can help us do our job better and help get our messages across to millions of people simultaneously in real time.
"Our traditional publicity outlets often referred to as industrial media are striving to contain the contemporary publicity challenges but we need to take a step further because our society is becoming more and more complex and the global community is currently being driven by digital technologies. It is this state of affairs that has informed the adoption of the theme for this 44th Meeting of the National Council on Information – "Social Media and Public Information Management", Dr. Yemi-Esan told the delegates.
She stressed the need for the country's Information Managers to include in their publicity domain the present day social media which uses mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms.
"Through Social Media such as blogs, micro-blogs, social networks etc, people or groups can create, organize, edit, comment on and share information thereby helping agencies or governments better achieve their mission goals. And in the case of our current democratic dispensation of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to achieve the Transformation Agenda, this is key", She added.
Speaking in the same vein, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere said "As at today, the reality is that the countries of the third world have remained in the back-waters of information and communication dissemination. Compared to the developed countries, most developing nations are still crawling in the world information circuit. They do not have the funds, technology or the know-how that can propel sound and speedy communication and information development".
"Nigeria is inclusive in the developing countries. However, it is certain that Nigeria has made quite an effort in the bid to move forward in communication and information development. Though still very far away from the developed countries, some strides have been made, even if that does not include the acquiring of technology that is strategic to quicken the pace of information development", the Commissioner stated.
He equally noted that Nigeria does not manufacture any communication equipment and this has not made the country's journey in information development easy. "May I note that the trend of information disadvantage cry against the developed world has continued, and may continue as could be seen in the current mobile phone technology and internet world. That seems to be the reality we are faced with in international communication and information order, as a country which crawls towards technological development. By assessment and correct understanding, these situations seem to be the basic issues being solved internally within the boundaries of Nigeria by the activities of NCI", Mr. Akere said.
During the opening session, a paper titled "Social Media And Public Information Management- Using Experience of Federal Ministry of Information" was delivered by Favour B. Afolabi of Seismonaut Africa/OnlineRepublic Media.
In his paper, Afolabi proposed the need for all MDAs of Government to have specific budgetary allocations towards achieving New Media goals.
Source: Perm-Sec, Commissioner decry untapped potentials of Social Media by public information managers (http://fmi.gov.ng/latest/30472/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=perm-sec-commissioner-decry-untapped-potentials-of-social-media-by-public-information-managers)
Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria