Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has challenged government Information Managers to boldly take on the challenges posed by the new information and digital technology in order to tackle purveyors of falsehood and also to saturate the various platforms offered by the Social Media with factual information.
Mohammed gave the challenge in Asaba, Delta State, on Friday at
the opening of the 46th National Council on Information, which has the
theme: “Leveraging on Information and Digital Technology to Sustain
The Change Agenda of Government.”
He said the theme is a reminder of the ”paradox of technology” that
has resulted from the information and digital technology, adding: ”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.
“We must key into the information and digital revolution in order to
better deliver on the tasks before us. We must use factual information
to drown out those who are bent on misinforming our people and making
it impossible for them to be a part of the change agenda. We must
always stay ahead of the pack. We must be proactive rather than be
reactive.
”We must never let down our guard because, for information managers,
there should be no down time. This is because while you are fast
asleep, those who will make your task impossible are fully awake! We
must understand and harness the enormous powers of the traditional and
the new tools of information dissemination to communicate the
activities of government and also get feedback,” the Minister said.
He said governments at all levels must provide their information
managers with adequate resources, training and re-training and the
state-of-the-art facilities they require to do their work.
Mohammed said even though the New Media has become the fastest
and most convenient way of disseminating public information, it has
also sadly become platforms for some people to distort information and
mislead the public.
“Yes, cashing in on the still evolving new information and digital
technology will undoubtedly facilitate our work. The multiplicity,
immediacy and pervasiveness of the platforms of information
dissemination mean that we can reach more people much faster. 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 has
posed new challenges to us,” he said.
The Minister expressed concern about how the Social Media has become
an all-comers affair dominated by emergency purveyors of information
who ply their trade without engaging in the rigours of accuracy,
fact-checking and fairness imposed by the traditional media, saying
Information Managers must strive to reverse the trend.
He cited the report that claimed that ‘’Change Begins With Me’’, the
national reorientation campaign which was launched by Mr. President
last month, is costing the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture
N3.4 billion, as an example of false information, wondering how a
Ministry with a total capital budget of less than N2 billion in
2016 will spend N3.4 billion on just one project
Mohammed also informed the gathering that the transition from
analogue to digital broadcasting, which the Ministry has embarked
upon, offers immense possibilities and opportunities in the way
information is disseminated, saying with over 24 million television
households, critical information can be passed on to the citizenry
through the Set-Top Boxes’ information portal at the push of a button
and at little or no cost.
He said as change agents, Information Managers must understand the
concept of change itself before they can mobilise the society to
change, in line with the Change Agenda of the present administration.
”People have asked: What is this change agenda all about? The answer
is simple. It is the change from impunity to accountability, change
from corruption to transparency, change from a mono-product economy to
a diversified economy, change from unemployment to job creation,
change from moral decadence to moral revival, change from lost values
to restoration of time-tested values, change from reliance on imported
goods to Made-in-Nigeria products and change from gender insensitivity
to gender sensitivity, just to mention a few examples,” The Minister
said.
He charged the delegates to the council, including the Commissioners
of Information from across the country, to promote the image of the
country rather than succumb to the antics of those who are bent on
imposing a new perception on the country.
