Veteran journalist, workaholic Amazon and Kogi state Commissioner for Information, Hajiya Zainab Suleiman Okino, gives a blow-by-blow account of how her office has successfully tackled falsehood, the government’s new feedback mechanism and how much this has helped the relationship between the leadership and people of the state.
As a commissioner, how do you relay information to the people on government policies?
Information dissemination has evolved over the years. As the conveyer of government’s policies and programmes, we have a multi-channel strategy that explores traditional and new media platforms to dissemination of information about the activities of the government. These platforms, especially the new media which include Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other online media channels, are very critical in governance these days. They are particularly important because of the instantaneous possibilities, wider reach and the feedback which creates excellent conversation that deepens democratic participation. Of course, our traditional media: radio, television and the print media, remain critical to our overall strategy in communicating government policies and programmes while also generating feedback from the citizenry on their expectations and appraisal of the government.
People tend to doubt government, how are you able to manage this situation?
One of the things I did when I was appointed commissioner in July last year was to set a distinction between being a government spokesperson and being an extension of the information machinery of a political party. That said, we clearly established and stayed focused on our cardinal responsibility as the official channel of communicating government’s policies and programmes while also providing platform for the government to feel the pulse of the citizenry.
As the chief information adviser to the governor, how would you assess the level of communication between the government and the followership today?
Well, I do know that in terms of information management and public policy communication in the state, there seemed to be a disconnect between the government and the people in the communication of government activities before I came in. With due respect to my predecessors and some of my colleagues who have been with His Excellency since the inception of the administration, it is obvious that some investment had gone into communicating the modest achievements of the government before now, but it appeared that more needed to be done both in terms of resources and the strategic application of the resources at the disposal of the government. Luckily, with the support of His Excellency, Captain Idris Wada, we are doing great in putting out the modest achievements of government in different sectors and we are getting reasonable feedback which is in a way serving as input to the programmes of government and there would be more of these in the years ahead.
Training makes workers better, how equipped are the ministry’s staff to tackle the challenges of modern governance?
Again, one of the challenges I met when I assumed office was that of human resources. While most of our workers lacked the skills required of an information manager in today’s information age, many of them who have the skills do not seem to have the enabling environment to thrive as effectively as I would have expected. However, that is fast changing because with the support of professionals in the ministry, we are beginning to skill up the competence level of workers in the ministry with training and re-training of public relations officers and media practitioners and information managers who have to contribute to our efforts in communicating the activities of government.
Kogi is a complex state in need orientation to get on; is your ministry doing anything in this regard?
As you know, orientation and re-orientation of the citizenry are part of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Information. As such, we are making efforts to sensitize our people in so many ways by using several media channels available. You would recall that the Ministry of Information worked closely with the Ministry of Health and that of Education during the Ebola scare in Nigeria to create awareness on radio, television and the print media. The ministry was also involved in promoting the activities of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources such as prohibition of street trading, bush burning and indiscriminate refuse dump as well as broadcast of early warning signals in case of impending flood or other natural disasters. It may interest you to note that the Ministry of Information will soon lead the campaign for a violence-free election in 2015 and we shall be collaborating with other agencies of government to educate our people on their rights and responsibilities as voters, electoral laws and other forms of political education ahead of the 2015 elections.
What are your main challenges as a commissioner in this administration?
Well, I think this has been a learning curve for me in the public sector. It is a whole new experience compared to the private sector where I had spent over 20 years. The speed and ease of getting things done far more quickly in the private sector is not what you find here but I am learning fast how things are done here. I am also challenged by the absence of core professionals here whereas these were readily available to me in every department in my private sector experience. But generally, I am learning fast and I am coping with the challenges. This is largely due to the support I enjoy from His Excellency the governor, my colleagues in the Ministry of Information, fellow commissioners and many others, some of whom have been in the government for a long time.
The Freedom of Information Act has generated so much heat, are you satisfied with what obtains in Kogi?
As an information manager, I won’t say we are where we want to be in upholding the provisions of the FOI Act, but we are certainly some steps from where we used to be.
The general election is in few days time, is the state prepared to meet the various challenges before and after the elections?
Like I said earlier, the state government in collaboration with other agencies of government is committed to a violence-free election. The government of Captain Idris Wada has maintained zero-tolerance for violence and political thuggery and His Excellency has consistently maintained that his political aspiration is not worth the life of any individual. This is the position of the state government and as you noticed this government has completely stamped out violence from elections in the state and we have all keyed into the posture of His Excellency by working with relevant agencies of government at all levels to ensure that we have peaceful elections in Kogi state.
There is so much misinformation within this state, what are you doing to curb its spread?
People have a right to say what they want to say or write whatever they feel like especially in these days of social media and all manner of blogs and armchair journalism that is replete with sensationalism and thrives on rumour and reckless innuendos. But from my almost 30 years experience in information management, one way to deal with falsehood is to act right by putting out the right information and saying the truth all time. Once you present the facts and stand by the evidence, you invariably prevent lies and falsehood from trending.
As a politician, are you not worried about the tension that seems to have enveloped Nigeria ahead of the 2015 election?
Elections would come and go but we should remember that we all are first Nigerians and Kogites before we became politicians, gladiators or contestants for an office to represent the same Kogi state and Nigeria at different levels and we all shall remain Nigerians afterwards.
What would you say are the highpoints of this administration as it clocks three years?
The administration of His Excellency is building on the achievement of his predecessors in office while he is deliberately laying the foundation in terms of massive infrastructure, roads, housing, education, agriculture, rural development, tourism development and youth and women empowerment to birth a new Kogi state will be one of the fastest growing states in Nigeria and one that is the pride of all Kogites and indeed Nigerians.
What should the people be expecting in the next one year?
A more conversational approach to policy communication and information management. We would be more proactive in presenting the achievements of government while also paying more attention to feedback from our people and responding accordingly to the various demands and expectations.
How difficult has information dissemination been in the state in the absence of a state-owned television station?
We enjoy the support of the federal government-owned NTA station in the state. We are creatively using all our radio stations, which have all gone digital; our own Graphic newspaper is doing very well; our social media platforms (www.facebook.com/followkogistate, www.twitter.com/kogitweets) as well as the major national print and electronic media in Nigeria have also been helpful in reaching a good number of our people.
